YOUTH
BY SHIRA PILARSKI
Raina Telgemeier ’ s groundbreaking graphic
novel Drama was released in 2012 to wide acclaim , and it has been popping up on both Best Of lists and Banned Books lists ever since . Its success heralded a shift in comics publishing for youth . In these past eight years , comics have become increasingly diverse , with examples of intersectional queer comics , graphic novels , and manga being published for children and teens . Some of those examples are listed below .
The following information is included in the annotation for each comic , graphic novel , and manga title in the below list :
1 . Suggested age recommendations as provided by the publisher . Where publisher recommendations for age were not found , professional reviews were consulted .
2 . A short synopsis of each title .
3 . Representations of the intersection of queer identities ( specifically sexual or romantic orientation / attraction and gender identity / expression ) with other historically underrepresented or oppressed identities , such as race , ethnicity , disability , or religion .
4 . Publication information .
Note : Where queer sexual orientation is not clearly stated within the text , representations are listed as Lesbian , Gay , Bisexual , or Queer . Any of these characters could identify as any number of other queer umbrella terms ; Lesbian , Gay , and Bisexual are used to define the in-text attraction only . Queer refers to characters ’ attraction to nonbinary and / or trans characters .
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman ( Ages 12-16 )
Thirteen-year-old Charlie is the only black girl at her feminist Christian summer camp . She feels completely alienated until she bonds with Sydney , a trans girl , over feeling like the odd ones out . Intersectional representations : Lesbian black character . Other LGBTQ + representations : Trans character . Originally published in English as a webcomic at www . melaniegillman . com . Published in English by Iron Circus Comics ( 2017 ).
Bloom by Kevin Pannetta ; illustrated by Savanna Ganucheau ( Ages 14-18 )
Ari wants to move away , so he hires Hector to replace him at his family ’ s struggling bakery . As the young adults work together , they fall for each other , which makes Ari doubt whether he wants to leave after all . Intersectional representations : Gay Pacific Islander character . Gay Greek character . Gay black character . Published in English by First Second ( 2019 ). Published in Spanish by Destino ( 2019 ).
FTL , Y ’ ALL edited by C . Spike Trotman and Amanda Lafrenais ( Ages 12-18 )
In the near future , space travel will be made affordable for anyone with $ 200 to spare . This anthology features 19 stories about people ’ s experiences with low-cost space travel . Intersectional representations : Lesbian brown-skinned character . Gay Asian character . Nonbinary brownskinned character . Published in English by Iron Circus Comics ( 2018 ). diamondbookshelf . com
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