Graphic Pride!

Don't miss out on these great middle grade graphic novels from fantastic queer creators! Tune in online as we welcome MAI KOBABE and SWATI "LUCKY" SRIKUMAR, author-illustrators of Opting Out, REX OGLE, author of Fruitcake: A Graphic Novel (Four Eyes #3), MARKER SNYDER, author-illustrator of First Kiss with Fangs, and JUAN E. ZAMBRANO, author-illustrator of Pacheco and the Witch of the Mountain. From magical adventures to the struggles of middle school, there's something for every young reader!

About the books:

Opting Out by MAI KOBABE and SWATI "LUCKY" SRIKUMAR

Saachi and her best friend Lyla are storytellers. But as seventh grade starts, everything is changing. Suddenly, everyone cares about crushes and Lyla seems more interested in hanging out with her new boyfriend than in writing and drawing—but Saachi's not interested in any of that boy/girl stuff. Why can't things just stay the way they were?

Saachi also doesn't love all the ways her body is changing. What if she doesn't feel like a girl—or like a boy, either? In a world where there is so much either/or, Saachi is going to need to find her own options . . . and create her own story.

Fruitcake: A Graphic Novel (Four Eyes #3) written by REX OGLE

Eighth grade isn't off to a great start. Everyone but Rex seems to be coupling up, and he's starting to feel like an outsider... until he meets Charlotte. She's fearless, smart, pretty, and she likes him back. But as great as Charlotte is, there's someone else Rex can't stop thinking about.

Drew is Rex's childhood best friend, so when he kisses Rex, all kinds of new feelings begin to stir. But at school, Drew acts like he doesn't even know Rex, making things really confusing really fast. And with all the strong opinions Rex hears from friends and at church, he questions his own worth and what his affections actually mean. Rex wants to be more like his new friend, Nina, and not care what others think, but being himself seems impossible. When did middle school get so confusing?!

First Kiss with Fangs by MARKER SNYDER

When Ivan’s vampire fangs come in on his first day of eighth grade, he’s determined to keep them a secret. He wants to stay in day school, with his sweet group of human BFFs, rather than transfer to night school with the rest of the teenage vampire crowd. Sure, that means he’ll have to lie to everyone, but how hard can it be?

But then he's assigned a new lab partner: transfer student Damien. Around him, Ivan acts anything but normal. He’s fainting and fumbling and far from blending in. Ivan even finds himself thinking about blood and heartbeats and vampire kisses . . . All. Day. Long.

He always thought he would do anything to stay in the human world, but maybe it’s too dangerous to keep pretending. . . .

Pacheco and the Witch of the Mountain by JUAN E. ZAMBRANO

Pacheco's biggest dream is to practice magic! There's just one problem: commoners, and especially boys, aren't allowed to learn witchcraft. 

However, once his family’s fishing business begins to suffer, Pacheco is certain that magic will solve their problems. He meets Doris, a grumpy old witch, and decides to become her apprentice.

As he enters the world of magic, he finds himself caught up in the rules and schemes of a new society and surrounded by magical creatures in need of protection. Pacheco will have to dig deep to muster the courage—and magic—to defend his future.

Friday, June 19th at 6pm EST via Crowdcast!