As someone who struggled with connections growing up, I have a big heart for outcasts. When Shane-Michael Vidaurri and I collaborated on All My Friends are Ghosts, we wanted to reach out to kids who may be experiencing the same struggles with loneliness that we faced in our own childhoods. When it feels like the whole world is against you, it’s important to find those alcoves in your life where you feel safe and seen… and books can be exactly that!
I illustrated...
All My Friends Are Ghosts
By
Shane-Michael Vidaurri,
Hannah Krieger
What is my book about?
Effie is lost, and feels like a ghost. She skips school because she doesn't think anyone will notice, and doesn't feel like she belongs, or that school offers her anything that she wants. Simply, she has stopped trying. One day, when she realizes no one will notice, she escapes from her everyday life… and discovers a ghost school in the nearby woods. But just as she’s beginning to learn all about the amazing things that ghosts can do – like possession, poltergeist-ing, demon magic, and more – Effie is asked by her new friends to help track down a mysterious spirit that’s been spotted. But if Effie’s going to succeed, she’ll not only have to show her friends that she’s got something special, but also learn to believe she’s got it too.
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The Books I Picked & Why
The Witch Boy
By
Molly Knox Ostertag
Why this book?
What happens when you are fully confident in who you are, but everyone, including your family, is telling you that’s not the case? When everyone is pressuring you to stop being true to yourself, this book says: Have the strength to refuse. This moving story is one of my favorites on my shelf. You can’t go wrong with any of Molly Ostertag’s stories; the worlds she creates are always enchanting and captivating, and The Witch Boy is no exception.
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Princess Jellyfish, Volume 1
By
Akiko Higashimura
Why this book?
This series turns the “tortured outcast” trope on its head: these nerd characters are proud to be outcasts, and the one thing they don't want to be associated with is beautiful, popular people! I love this story because I, too, once fell into the “us vs. them” mentality against people I thought were too cool for me as a youth— people who could have potentially become my best friends! This manga series beautifully celebrates how we are all different, but still might have more in common than we think.
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In Real Life
By
Cory Doctorow,
Jen Wang
Why this book?
The social landscape of the internet is a safe haven for a lot of us who have trouble building relationships in person. As someone who's fostered many friendships over the internet, I’m of the firm belief that internet life is real life. This book acknowledges how very real human lives are intertwined with our online personas, and relationships made through the internet can be just as rewarding (or damaging!) as ones made through “real life.”
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Anya's Ghost
By
Vera Brosgol
Why this book?
I’m a big fan of kid’s books that acknowledge and respect how dark children’s inner and outer worlds can often be. This book tackles the pressures on kids to act older and more delinquent in order to be cool— pressures like smoking, skipping class, cheating, and bullying. When you’re a kid who’s being hurt by those around you, it’s tempting to hurt others in order to try and raise yourself in the pecking order. I love how this story shows the kinder, more fulfilling world that opens up when you decide to go against the grain and treat others with compassion.
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Blue Flag, Vol. 1
By
Kaito
Why this book?
Blue Flag features an intense love rectangle between four unlikely friends and explores everything from cliques, crushes, self-hatred, projecting your insecurities onto others, and figuring out how to grow as a person. The relationships in Blue Flag are very complex, and almost uncomfortably real in their strengths and shortcomings. This is a series I wish I could have read as a teen; I would have loved it to be my companion in navigating the unnavigable maze of school social life.
