Graphic Novels (Non-Fiction)

Last Updated: August 30, 2024

Artificial: A Love Story by Amy Kurzweil

Artificial: A Love Story
by Amy Kurzweil

A visionary story of three generations of artists whose search for meaning and connection transcends the limits of life. How do we relate to–and hold–our family’s past? Is it through technology? Through spirit? Art, poetry, music? Or is it through the resonances we look for in ourselves? In Artificial, we meet the Kurzweils, a family of creators who are preserving their history through unusual means.

I Don't Want To Be a Mom by Irene Olmo

A recollection of the author’s ambivalent feelings regarding motherhood while growing up, and an exploration of the imposition of motherhood on women as both an expectation and a path toward fulfillment.

Okinawa by Susumu Higa

Okinawa
by Susumu Higa

Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the island’s pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa, which reflect on this difficult history and pull together traditional Okinawan spirituality, the modern-day realities of the continuing US military occupation, and the senselessness of the War.

Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story by Julia Wertz

Celebrated cartoonist Julia Wertz chronicles her haphazard attempts at sobriety and the relentlessly challenging, surprisingly funny, and occasionally absurd cycle of addiction and recovery.

Ephemera by Briana Loewinsohn

Ephemera
by Briana Loewinsohn

The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child, and the gossamer existence of her mother. A lyrical entry in the field of graphic medicine, Ephemera is a story about a daughter trying to relate to a parent who struggles with mental illness. Gorgeously illustrated in a painted palette of warm, earthy tones, it is a quiet book of isolation, plants, confusion, acceptance, and the fog of childhood.

Transitions: A Mother’s Journey by Élodie Durand

When university biologist Anne Marbot learns that the 19-year-old she raised as “Lucie” is a transgender man named Alex, she’s overwhelmed by questions. It soon becomes clear that Alex is not the only one embarking on a journey of self-discovery. The road is not easy, and sometimes their relationship is bitterly strained. But Alex is sure of himself, and Anne is determined to be strong for his sake. With time, she too will be transformed, rediscovering her identity as a mother in profound new ways

Stamped From The Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

A comprehensive history of anti-black racism in graphic-novel format focuses on the lives of five major players in American history and highlights the debates that took place between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and anti-racists.