New Graphic Novel

Thank you so much for posting about this book. My mom died last week from cancer. It was very aggressive; she was only diagnosed in January. When I saw this post last month, my mom was still receiving treatment, but it wasn’t going well. I knew in my heart, as soon as I saw this post, that she was going to die. I don’t think anyone wanted to fully believe it at that moment, but I just knew when I read about this book on CoJ that, sadly, I would need it. I bought it a few weeks later when her doctors recommended that she stop treatment. I read it then and read it again when she died last week. Truly, truly, thank you for sharing this book…it has made me feel seen and less alone.

Amazing new discovery, I love Tyler’s style! Thank you for another amazing book suggestion Joanna! :)

Tyler Feder has been one of my favorite Internet follows for years. She is so talented and so lovely. Thanks for sharing this!

I lost my mom when I was 25 (five years ago), after she battled a long time with frontotemporal dementia. I was the first person I know to have lost a mom amongst my peers. It was terrible. I felt like I didn’t know what to do or how to progress through life. I was appalled that lift continued onward like nothing had happened, when it felt like my life had shattered. Thankfully, that feeling subsided as time passed. But I still get very uncomfortable going into memory care centers, as I visited my mom for years there and it’s ultimately where she passed away.

Indeed, grief is a lifelong journey, and it sure as heck is a rollercoaster.

Thanks for this post. I lead a grief group at a university, and losing a mom [father, sibling, best friend] in college or graduate school is incredibly painful. Being with others of a similar age who’ve also lost someone dear who can say “me too” or just sit in tearful silence together is something. I wish I could give this book to everyone who’s ever been in the group. Ordering it now.

I recently finished When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson. It’s a middle school graphic novel about Omar’s experience growing up orphaned in a refugee camp, while raising his developmentally disabled brother. Touching, and appropriate for all ages!

Love this! Is the team going to do “five great summer books” about upcoming releases? I always love reading those posts and have found some of my favorite books there.

“A Grief Observed” by C.S. Lewis. My mom died 6 months ago of cancer and this was on the list of recommended bereavement reading from hospice.
I’m only 37 and my mom was my best friend.

As a Black woman who went natural 25 years ago, I’ve been wanting to try this:

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I definitely want to read this book. My mom died almost four years ago at age 94. No suffering or lingering illness, but I still feel sad at times, especially Mother’s Day and Easter, because sometimes her birthday was on Easter. I was 19 and in college when my dad died from cancer at age 54. I’m 66 and the loss of a parent is tough at any age. I appreciate CofJ tackling tough issues.

Check out Street Noise Books (https://www.streetnoisebooks.com): Graphic novels for people who give a damn… This small, independent NYC company publishes graphic novels and memoirs written by underrepresented minorities and marginalized people and they are PHENOMENAL!! (Shameless plug for my SIL, Liz Frances, who started the company).

Isabel Greenberg is my current favorite graphic novelist! Strong women and beautiful art!

I’d recommend anything by Mimi Pond. :)

My dad passed away last November (cancer) and I have read two (Dutch) books so far about the loss of a parent, which helped me somehow to deal with my grief. This is a great looking graphic novel, I think I will order it. Thanks for sharing ??

I read “The M Train” by Patti Smith a couple of months after my mother died. I really didn’t know what I was delving into. Because “M” stands for “memory” Smith writes of those close to her who have died, namely her husband. It’s so moving and devastating and you feel like you’re there w/her. But what really did me in, in a good way, was her memory of her mother stopping in the middle of the kitchen and saying, “Mom” after Smith’s grandmother had died. I find myself doing that sometimes — it just comes out, maybe because our mothers are so elemental to existence. They’re everything. It was a comfort to read that and realize that I too might just blurt out the word at some point.

I loved “The M Train.”

Thrilled to see Tyler’s book on COJ!! I’ve followed her on Instagram for a long time.

I have terminal cancer and will be sure to purchase 3 of these, one for each of my boys. What a lovely gift she has given the rest of us, and a wonderful tribute to her mom.
It is so hard for my kids (30, 28, 25) to find someone who will listen to their fears, anger and frustration in a relatable, compassionate way. I’ve chosen to take the path of thankfulness and peacefulness during this time, but I know it’s harder for my husband and sons to endure some days.
Thank you for sharing.
PS, if you have read Caitlyn Flanagan’s piece in The Atlantic from last week about terminal cancer and Covid, please give yourself a few minutes to savor it.

Two I read recently that I liked are: Malaka Gharib’s I Was Their American Dream and Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do.

“Look up any movie and find out if the mom dies in it” — She nailed it! I lost my father 15 years ago and for years I felt like there was some sort of conspiracy against me because every other movie I watched had a dead father or a dying father in it. Literally for years, whenever my husband suggested we watch a movie together my first question was: “Is there a dead father in it?” Obviously the untimely loss of a parent can compel people to create incredible art. Also grief is such an overwhelming and mysterious and beautiful thing. I’ll never forget a good friend (with good intentions) asking me days after my father’s death, “Don’t you just wish you could speed up time to get through all this pain?” My answer: No. The unbelievable and debilitating grief I experienced in the days, weeks, and months after my father’s death was not something I wanted to avoid. I needed to experience it and I carry it with me too to this day. One final thought on grieving (for those of you with friends or loved ones who have lost someone): I remember feeling like I was drowning. I was drowning in a swimming pool and around the pool were people who loved me – close friends and my then-boyfriend/now-husband – but no one was saving me. I was lost in my grief and people (my husband especially) tried to help but I was so alone in the pool, struggling to stay above the water.

A few other readers have mentioned Lucy Knisley– her graphic novel Kid Gloves is an amazing and beautiful journey through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I laughed and cried and nodded and yelled “YES”! so many times. I love too that it weaves a shocking little history lesson about maternal care in our country. It’s now in my “welcome to the new mama club” book bundle that I gift to all my expectant parent friends, along with Nurture by Erica Chidi Cohen, Expecting Better by Emily Oster, and The First Forty Days by Heng Ou.

I would highly recommend for this incredible community of women, “Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World” by Pénélope Bagieu. She depicts women through history and around the world who are all amazing in their own way. Other favorites include The Arab of the Future series by Riad Sattouf, The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui and Palestine Collection by Joe Sacco.

Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée is beautiful, heart wrenching, and hopeful. Even more heartbreaking that she passed away not long after writing it. Highly recommend.

I absolutely love Hilda on Netflix. It is based on children’s graphic novels of the same name by Luke Pearson- I have been meaning to read them! Hilda is a blue-haired fearless adventurer, and a friend of nature and creatures of all kinds.

With regard to graphic novels, I loved Liana Finck’s Passing for Human! Also Mira Jacob’s Good Talk.

This is so important. My dad died when I was 18 and I wish there had been something like this to read. Thank you for featuring it ❤️