coming-of-age comics

Ariel Grace Jones has just finished high school and she's ready to make it big with her punk band, the Baby Hares. But the band's dreams of stardom soon clash with the realities of life and frustrations mount among band members. As Ariel is deciding to call it quits, a local punk icon takes an interest in their band and gives them the break they've been looking for.

Fifteen-year-old Ash has never felt like they fit in, and the only person who ever really understood them was their Grandpa Edwin, but ever since his death, things have only gotten worse. Their parents haven't fully accepted their name change and newly shorn hair, and Ash is deeply concerned about the climate crisis that no one else seems to care about. So when Ash learns their family is planning on selling Grandpa Edwin's old ranch, they come up with a plan to find Grandpa's secret cabin in the woods and stay there forever. With their dog, Chase, Ash sets out into the California wilderness to find the cabin and learns to live off the land, but when a wildfire threatens their safety, Ash must make an impossible decision.

The daughter of a famous samurai, sixteen-year-old Chihiro Ito is obsessed with her idol, Tatsuo Nakano, the first female samurai to be accepted into Kesi Academy. When Chihiro gets the opportunity to prove she's worthy of joining Kesi Academy by dispelling a demon from a local village, she jumps at the chance. Beset by challenges as soon as she enters the village, Chihiro is saved by none other than Tatsuo herself. Though she manages to convince Tatsuo to join her in defeating the demon, Chihiro soon learns that Tatsuo hardly the hero she idolized. Traumatized from her past, Tatsuo has abandoned the samurai way and lives the life of a drunken ronin. Together, they undertake a quest to defeat the demon, while Chihiro proves her worthiness as a fighter and helps Tatsuo find the part of herself she'd lost.

As an 8th grader from a racially mixed family, Christina faces a new set of challenges, heartbreaks and triumphs.

"Marlene ama tres cosas: el arte, a su adorada ti?a Ruby y pasar el tiempo con Camilla, su mejor amiga. Pero su mama? piensa que se deberi?a enfocar solamente en sus estudios y en madurar; y esto u?ltimo implica alisarse el pelo todos los fines de semana para que se vea "presentable" y "bueno". Pero Marlene odia ir al salo?n y no entiende por que? nadie a su alrededor piensa que sus rizos naturales son bonitos. Despue?s de algunos desafi?os y momentos vergonzosos, adema?s de la ayuda imprescindible de Camilla y ti?a Ruby, poco a poco Marlene emprende el camino de aprender a apreciar su pelo rizo y llevarlo con orgullo."--.

"Veronica Lodge has always been the most fabulous and popular kid in her class. But ever since she started middle school, she's become a small fish in a much bigger pond. Now, Veronica is terrified her classmates will find out her wealthy dad is out of work. Worse, she has a birthday coming up, and her parties are always huge, grand events. If she can't have a party this year, then everyone will know the truth about her father, and she just can't deal. When Veronica learns about the annual School Spirit Contest--which happens to have a cash prize attached--she makes up her mind to win the contest and use the money to fund her festivities. Her only obstacle is the infuriatingly cool and older Cheryl Blossom, who's handily won the contest two years in a row. Can Veronica save her birthday?"--OCLC.

"Betty Cooper and her best friend, Val Smith, are about to start middle school, and they've always done everything together. They play together, have classes together and want to study the same things together. Or so Betty thinks! When Val unexpectedly signs up for a music elective she and Betty are separated for the first tine since they meet many years ago. Now Betty is stuck in the loser drama elective, which is dominated by the snobby Veronica Lodge. Is middle school doomed to be the absolute worst time of Betty's life?"--Back cover.

"Cath and Levi are officially dating--finally!--but Cath still has a lot on her plate as the end of freshman year approaches. She only has a few more weeks to save her grade in Fiction-Writing, her twin sister, Wren, is acting increasingly reckless, and an unexpected reunion with her mother has thrown everything off-balance. Plus, with the release date for the last Simon Snow novel looming, Cath is struggling to focus on anything except finishing her epic fanfiction--including her relationship with Levi"--Amazon.

"This is the story of a girl growing up in the 1990s--a middle-schooler who finds herself lost in the gulf between childhood and adolescence, developing paralyzing fears of failure, school, other people, and her own changing body. Along the way, she becomes obsessed with the Beatles ... which might be just what she needs to find her way back to being okay"--Amazon.

"Lewis Hancox tells the hilarious, inspiring story of coming into his own as a trans man"--OCLC.