by Amy Wu Spanning twenty years of curiosity, connection, and care, All Things Connect chronicles Andrew and Ise’s shared life in an increasingly complicated world. Divided into two main acts, The Rite of Spring begins with their chance encounter at a dog park in 2005, through their life of environmental activism on scales both large and small. The Dance of Death follows, offering an exploration of intimate themes of personal loss and grief. All Things Connect is a story told predominantly through Andrew and Ise’s conversations, punctuated by familiar headlines: the 2008 recession, natural disasters, Brexit, the pandemic, etc. There… Read More
Sunshine
by Saily Marrero Jarrett K. Krosoczka’s follow-up memoir, Sunshine: How One Camp Taught Me About Life, Death, and Hope, recalls his first time working at a camp with terminally ill children. Although it covers serious topics like cancer, caretaking, death, grief, it has lighter moments full of laughter and triumph. Heartfelt and moving, his memoir is recommended for young adult readers. Camp Sunshine, located in Maine’s Sebago Lake, is a camp for children with serious illness and their families. Since its founding in 1984, the camp has supported over 60,000 children and their families across the U.S. and 27 countries (Camp… Read More
Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir
by Soph Myers-Kelley Bishakh Som in Spellbound introduces the reader to a memoir experience about culture, immigration, queerness, transness, tantalizing foods, and crushing identity crises. It’s ideal for older teenagers and adults. One of the most interesting creative decisions Som makes in her book is the choice to use a stand-in cisgender Bengali American character named Anjali instead of depicting her own likeness as the protagonist. Som herself is a transgender Bengali American woman, who came out as an adult. She originally created this work as a diary comic before stringing together longer chapters. This book is a complex, note… Read More