Kiss Number 8 wasn't quite what I was expecting and I'm not sure how to discuss it without spoilers. I'll try to be vague in the main review, but I've added a spoiler at the end for those who want to be prepared.

Gender Queer, like the life depicted in its pages, is difficult to sum up in just a few hundred words. Maia Kobabe (e, em, eir pronouns) describes eir life from an unconventional childhood spent partly off the grid and homeschooled to eir current mid-twenties as a gender queer person making comics and still on a quest of self-discovery. It's not an easy read and no one should go into it expecting answers, a universal experience applicable to all gender-questioning individuals or a straightforward narrative.

If you've been following along, you know that we've been working to make a home for coverage of comics for kids. For several reasons, this can't be that home.

Ready for yet another Best of 2019 list?

I knew it!

If you want to see what I loved the last two years, here are my lists from 2017 and 2018.

Standard disclaimer that I didn't read all that many comics this year and there's no possible way I could have read everything. And this list is totally subjective.

That said, I'd love to hear your faves from 2019!

It's always tricky to give one solid review of a book that contains multiple stories, and Hide & Seek is no different. According to the first page, each of the three stories came from the same set of five prompts:

When DC announced they were launching new lines for kids and teens, Zoom and Ink respectively, fans everywhere were excited. And for good reason, as any medium requires an on-ramp for new readers and particularly younger readers. Hook 'em early and they'll read be readers for life and all that. The two lines are being merged into one for all younger readers now with titles for teens under the general DC banner, but that's a story for another time. In the meanwhile, they're still releasing the full line-up of graphic novels they announced earlier this year, which is full of really exciting, diversely populated titles.

Before I hop into the review on this one, I'd like to note that colorists rarely get the attention they deserve. Though her name isn't on the cover, Sarah Stern's colors set the Autumn/Halloween tone for Pumpkinheads and the book wouldn't be the same without her.

This was adorable. Seriously, you take a look at that cover and you'll get exactly what you expect. A queer witch and werewolf who were friends as kids are reunited as young adults to defeat a few bad guys and fall (back) in love. Both love interests are Asian and queer. Nova is a Hard of Hearing witch living with her two grandmas following the death of her parents. (Older queer women FTW!) Tam is a non-binary werewolf who has run away from an abusive situation only to end up in a magical forest fighting a demon horse.

If you've got young readers in your life or library, here's a chance to win a copy of Best Friends, by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham!

It's been a while since we did one of these, but here are four I just backed that you might be interested in, too. Yes, I have a problem. No, I don't want to fix it.