Anxiety Is Really Strange by
What is the difference between fear and excitement and how can you tell them apart? How do the mind and body make emotions? When can anxiety be good? This science-based graphic book addresses these questions and more, revealing just how strange anxiety is, but also how to unravel its mysteries and relieve its effects. Understanding how anxiety is created by our nervous system, and how our fight-or-flight mechanisms can get stuck, can significantly lessen the fear experienced during anxiety attacks. In this guide, anxiety is explained in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format with tips and strategies to relieve its symptoms, and to change the mind's habits for a more positive outlook.
Blue Bottle Mystery - the Graphic Novel by
This graphic novel re-telling of Kathy Hoopmann's best-selling Blue Bottle Mystery brings the much-loved fantasy story to life for a new generation of readers. The hero is Ben, a boy with Asperger Syndrome (AS). When Ben and his friend Andy find an old bottle in the school yard, little do they know of the surprises about to be unleashed in their lives. Bound up with this exciting mystery is the story of how Ben is diagnosed with AS and how he and his family deal with the problems and joys that come along with it.
Drawing Autism by
This "jaw-droppingly beautiful book" explores the work and creative process of artists diagnosed with ASD, with a foreword by Temple Grandin (Library Journal). In this volume, behavior analyst and educator Jill Mullin has assembled a staggering array of work from established artists with autism like Gregory Blackstock and Jessica Park--as well as many who are unknown but no less talented. Their creations, coupled with artist interviews, comprise a fascinating and compelling book that serves to educate and inspire anyone who knows someone diagnosed with ASD. Mullin's introduction and the foreword by bestselling author Temple Grandin also provide an overview of autism, and advocate for nurturing the talents, artistic and otherwise, of autistic individuals. "What is the actual experience of living with autism in a deep-felt sense, beyond the social stereotypes and headline-worthy superskills? Drawing Autism, a celebration of the artistry and self-expression found in artwork by people diagnosed with autism, explores just that. The stunning volume features works by more than fifty international contributors, from children to established artists, that illustrate the rich multiplicity of the condition." --The Atlantic "Mullin . . . brings together fascinating works by 40 artists on the spectrum with their answers to her questions about their process." --The Boston Globe "A testament to the power of art to reveal the inner world of people living with ASD." --Publishers Weekly
Funny Misshapen Body by
Funny Misshapen Body is the story of Jeffrey Brown's evolution as a cartoonist, from his youthful obsession with superhero comics to his disillusionment with fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Drawn with Brown's scratchy, spare, trademark style, Funny Misshapen Body resonates with true-to-life observations on love, fear, and ambition. Through his bare bones graphic style, he reveals his most embarrassing personal moments in raw, intimate detail -- including how he survived high school, binge drinking, mild drug experimentation, doomed friendships, and being diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Ultimately coming to terms with his art and identity, Brown describes the ups and downs of his adolescence with understated simplicity, dark humor, and charm.
Graphic Medicine Manifesto by
This inaugural volume in the Graphic Medicine series establishes the principles of graphic medicine and begins to map the field. The volume combines scholarly essays by members of the editorial team with previously unpublished visual narratives by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, and it includes arresting visual work from a wide range of graphic medicine practitioners. The book's first section, featuring essays by Scott Smith and Susan Squier, argues that as a new area of scholarship, research on graphic medicine has the potential to challenge the conventional boundaries of academic disciplines, raise questions about their foundations, and reinvigorate literary scholarship-and the notion of the literary text-for a broader audience. The second section, incorporating essays by Michael Green and Kimberly Myers, demonstrates that graphic medicine narratives can engage members of the health professions with literary and visual representations and symbolic practices that offer patients, family members, physicians, and other caregivers new ways to experience and work with the complex challenges of the medical experience. The final section, by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, focuses on the practice of creating graphic narratives, iconography, drawing as a social practice, and the nature of comics as visual rhetoric. A conclusion (in comics form) testifies to the diverse and growing graphic medicine community. Two valuable bibliographies guide readers to comics and scholarly works relevant to the field.
Ink in Water by
"An incredibly important, extremely relatable memoir about learning to love the hardest person of all: yourself." --Liz Prince, author of Tomboy "Compelling, funny, occasionally heartbreaking, and full of genuine hope in ways that most graphic memoirs never achieve artistically. ... Don't miss this one." --Library Journal Starred Review At once punk rock and poignant, Ink in Water is the visceral and groundbreaking graphic memoir of a young woman's devastating struggle with negative body image and eating disorders, and how she rose above her own destructive behaviors and feelings of inadequacy to live a life of strength and empowerment. As a young artist living in Portland, Lacy Davis's eating disorder began with the germ of an idea: a seed of a thought that told her she just wasn't good enough. And like ink in water, that idea spread until it reached every corner of her being. This is the true story of Lacy's journey into the self-destructive world of multiple eating disorders. It starts with a young and positive Lacy, trying to grapple with our culture's body-image obsession and stay true to her riot grrrl roots. And while she initially succeeds in overcoming a nagging rumination about her body, a breakup with a recovering addict starts her on a collision course with anorexia, health food obsession, and compulsive exercise addiction. At the request of her last real friend, she starts going to a twelve-step Overeaters Anonymous course, only to find that it conflicts with her punk feminist ideology. Blending bold humor, a healthy dose of self-deprecation, vulnerability, literary storytelling, and dynamic and provocative artwork by illustrator Jim Kettner, Ink in Water is an unflinching, brutally honest look into the author's mind: how she learned to take control of her damaging thoughts, redirect her perfectionism from self-destructive behaviors into writing and art, and how she committed herself to a life of health, strength, and nourishment.
Lisa and the Lacemaker - the Graphic Novel by
When Lisa discovers a hidden door to an abandoned hut in her friend's backyard, her imagination runs wild with thoughts of the stories it could hold. But strange sounds and faces in the shadows give Lisa the feeling that there is more to the hut than meets the eye, especially when Great Aunt Hannah tells her about one of its previous inhabitants - the mysterious Lacemaker... Lisa quickly discovers that the Lacemaker isn't the only mystery to be solved. Great Aunt Hannah has a secret of her own, and like the criss-crossing of threads her past is tied up with the Lacemaker. Vividly reimagined in graphic form for a new generation, follow Lisa as she confronts the Lacemaker to put right the secrets of the past, and is helped to understand her own Asperger Syndrome along the way.
My Degeneration by
How does one deal with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease at the age of forty-three? My Degeneration, by former Anchorage Daily News staff cartoonist Peter Dunlap-Shohl, answers the question with humor and passion, recounting the author's attempt to come to grips with the "malicious whimsy" of this chronic, progressive, and disabling disease. This graphic novel tracks Dunlap-Shohl's journey through depression, the worsening symptoms of the disease, the juggling of medications and their side effects, the impact on relations with family and community, and the raft of mental and physical changes wrought by the malady. My Degeneration examines the current state of Parkinson's care, including doctor/patient relations and the repercussions of a disease that, among other things, impairs movement, can rob patients of their ability to speak or write, degrades sufferers' ability to deal with complexity, and interferes with the sense of balance. Readers learn what it's like to undergo a dramatic, demanding, and audacious bit of high-tech brain surgery that can mysteriously restore much of a patient's control over symptoms. But My Degeneration is more than a Parkinson's memoir. Dunlap-Shohl gives the person newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease the information necessary to cope with it on a day-to-day basis. He chronicles the changes that life with the disease can bring to the way one sees the world and the way one is seen by the wider community. Dunlap-Shohl imparts a realistic basis for hope-hope not only to carry on, but to enjoy a decent quality of life.
My Depression by
A poignant look at one woman's fight with depression, which is by turns funny, tender, heart-breaking and uplifting and will resonate with all who have been affected by depression. Through expressively scrawled drawings and commentary, Elizabeth Swados gives the reader an intimate glance into the illness that controlled her life. She discusses the strained relationships, the side effects of anti-depressants and the everyday difficulty of getting out of bed and keeping going.
Pain Is Really Strange by
Answering questions such as: How can I change my pain experience? Whatis pain? and How do nerves work? This short, research-based graphicbook reveals just how strange pain is and explains how understanding itis often the key to relieving its effects. Studies show thatunderstanding how pain is created and maintained by the nervous systemcan significantly lessen the pain you experience. The narrator in thisoriginal, gently humorous book explains pain in an easy-to-understand,engaging graphic format and reveals how to change the mind'shabits to transform pain.
Something Different about Dad by
This positive book takes an honest look at how Asperger Syndrome canaffect a family when a parent is on the spectrum, and reassures youngpeople that it's okay to have a mum or dad who is different. Thisbook reveals a family's journey from initial diagnosis to gradualacceptance of the fact that there is "something different aboutDad." Sophie and Daniel learn the reasons behind theirdad's problems, and they also come to recognise his positiveattributes. This warm, funny story emphasizes how love within a familycan overcome all difficulties, looking at sensitive issues in alighthearted yet reassuring manner.
Thin Slices of Anxiety by
Not to worry, a book on anxiety is finally here! A clever antidote to everyday angst, this illustrated book captures universal truths and comforting revelations about being human. Artist Catherine Lepage uses her wry humor to help us see that "thinly sliced and illustrated, emotions are much easier to digest."
Threadbare by
Threadbare draws the connections between the international sex and garment trades and human trafficking in a beautifully illustrated comics series. Anne Elizabeth Moore, in reports illustrated by top-notch comics creators, pulls at the threads of gender, labor, and cultural production to paint a concerning picture of a human rights in a globalized world. Moore's reporting, illustrated by members of the Ladydrawers Comics Collective, takes the reader from the sweatshops of Cambodia to the traditional ateliers of Vienna, from the life of a globetrotting supermodel to the warehouses of large clothing retailers, from the secondhand clothing industry to the politics of the sex trade. With thoughtful illustrations of women's stories across the sex and garment supply chain, this book offers a practical guide to a growing problem few truly understand. Featuring the work of Leela Corman, Julia Gfr#65533;rer, Simon H#65533;ussle, Delia Jean, Ellen Lindner, and Melissa Mendes.
Trauma Is Really Strange by
What is trauma? How does it change the way our brains work? And how can we overcome it? When something traumatic happens to us, we dissociate and our bodies shut down their normal processes. This unique comic explains the strange nature of trauma and how it confuses the brain and affects the body. With wonderful artwork, cat and mouse metaphors, essential scientific facts, and a healthy dose of wit, the narrator reveals how trauma resolution involves changing the body's physiology and describes techniques that can achieve this, including Trauma Releasing Exercises that allow the body to shake away tension, safely releasing deep muscular patterns of stress and trauma.
Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope by
When Alan Cope joined the army and went off to fight in World War II, he had no idea what he was getting into. This graphic memoir is the story of his life during wartime, a story told with poignant intimacy and matchless artistry.
The Bad Doctor by
Meet Dr. Iwan James: cyclist, doctor, would-be lover, former heavy metal fan, and, above all, human being. Weighed down by his responsibilities-from diagnosing personality disorders to deciding who can hold a gun license-he doubts his ability to make decisions about the lives of others when he may need more than a little help himself. Cartoonist and doctor Ian Williams introduces us to Iwan's troubled life as all humanity, it seems, passes through his surgery doors.
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by
#1 New York Times Bestseller In her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents. When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the "crazy closet"-with predictable results-the tools that had served Roz well through her parents' seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed. While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies-an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades-the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care. An amazing portrait of two lives at their end and an only child coping as best she can, Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant will show the full range of Roz Chast's talent as cartoonist and storyteller.
How I Made It to Eighteen by
How do you know if you're on the verge of a nervous breakdown? For seventeen-year-old Stacy Black, it all begins with the smashing of a window. After putting her fist through the glass, she checks into a mental hospital. Stacy hates it there but despite herself slowly realizes she has to face the reasons for her depression to stop from self-destructing. Based on the author's experiences,How I Made it to Eighteen is a frank portrait of what it's like to struggle with self-esteem, body image issues, drug addiction, and anxiety. How I Made It to Eighteen is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
The Infinite Wait and Other Stories by
The Infinite Wait and Other Stories is not a sustained narrative, but rather a collection of three short stories. The stories in this collection contain Julia Wertz's signature acerbic wit, ribald humor, and keen eye for the everyday, but they also find the cartoonist delving more deeply into the personal.
Lighter Than My Shadow by
A graphic memoir of eating disorders, abuse andrecovery. Like most kids, Katie was a pickyeater. She'd sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in herbedroom, listen to parental threats that she'd have to eat it for breakfast. But in any life a set of circumstance cancollide, and normal behavior might soon shade into something sinister, somethingdeadly. One day you can find yourself being told you have two weeks tolive. Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawnstory of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness,an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the weak, and an inspirationto anybody who believes in the human power to endure towardshappiness.
Marbles by
Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between "crazy" and "creative" in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers. Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity. Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, she finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, William Styron, and Sylvia Plath. She also researches the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder, including the strengths and limitations of various treatments and medications, and what studies tell us about the conundrum of attempting to "cure" an otherwise brilliant mind. Darkly funny and intensely personal, Forney's memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on an artist's work, as she shares her own story through bold black-and-white images and evocative prose.
Psychiatric Tales by
Psychiatric Tales draws on Darryl Cunningham's time working in a psychiatric ward to give a reasoned and sympathetic look into the world of mental illness. In each chapter, Cunningham explores a different mental health problem, using evocative imagery to describe the experience of mental illness, both from the point of view of those beset by illness and their friends and relatives. As Cunningham reveals this human experience, he also shows how society's perceptions of and reactions to mental illness perpetuate needless stigma, for example, the myth that schizophrenic people are more likely to commit crimes than non-schizophrenic people. Psychiatric Tales is a groundbreaking graphic work; it deftly demythologizes and destigmatizes the disorders that 26.2 percent of American adults live with every day. Concluding with a reflection on how mental illness has affected his own life, Darryl Cunningham's Psychiatric Tales is a moving, engaging examination of what is, at its root, the human condition. Darryl Cunningham is the creator of the Web comics Super-Sam and John-of-the-Night and The Streets of San Diablo. He is a prolific cartoonist, sculptor, and photographer, and lives in Leeds, England. This is his first book.
Queer: a Graphic History by
'Queer: A Graphic History Could Totally Change the Way You Think About Sex and Gender' Vice Activist-academic Meg-John Barker and cartoonist Julia Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel.
In both print and online versions.
Smile by
Raina just wanted to be a normal girl, but one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion and friends who turn out to not be so friendly.
Soldier's Heart by
In the wake of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Art Spiegelman's Maus comes cartoonist Carol Tyler's multigenerational graphic memoir, You'll Never Know. The author chronicles her fraught relationship with her father, Charles, a WWII veteran, and how the war affected their lives through both childhood and adulthood. You'll Never Know is also a tribute to servicemen and women, dramatizing the trauma of the war on the Greatest Generation and those who followed. Tyler's ink and watercolor narrative is in turns sprawling and gimlet-eyed: compassionate and enraged. Her father's memories are woven into her own, which span her Catholic, Midwestern childhood; her troubled marriage; her daughter's struggles; and her efforts to care for her aging parents. Even though Tyler's work has an accessible, homemade feel (the organizing metaphor of the book is a photo album with "snapshots" of Tyler family life), You'll Never Know is a sophisticated graphic work about war, love, and loss.
Special Exits by
In the vein of Alison Bechdel or Harvey Pekar, Joyce Farmerâe(tm)s memoir chronicles the decline of the authorâe(tm)s parentsâe(tm) health, their relationship with one another and with their daughter, and how they cope with the day-to-day emotional fragility of the most taxing time of their lives. Set in southern Los Angeles (which makes for a terrifying sequence as blind Rachel and ailing Lars are trapped in their home without power during the 1992 Rodney King riots), Farmer details the slow, inexorable decline in Larsâe(tm) and Rachelâe(tm)s health, and perfectly captures the timbre of the exchanges between a long-married couple: the affectionate bickering; their gallows humor; their querulousness as their bodies break down.
Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS care unit 371 by
In 1994, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, MK Czerwiec took her first nursing job, at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, as part of the caregiving staff of HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371. Taking Turns pulls back the curtain on life in the ward.