Helen Plum Library

"Jason Adam Katzenstein is just trying to live his life, but he keeps getting sidetracked by his over-active, anxious brain. Mundane events like shaking hands or sharing a drink snowball into absolute catastrophes. Jason has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mental illness that compels him to perform rituals in order to protect himself from dangers that don't really exist. He checks, washes, over-thinks, rinse, repeat. He does his best to hide his...

"When Kristen Radtke was in her twenties, she learned that, as her father was growing up, he would crawl onto his roof in rural Wisconsin and send signals out on his ham radio. Those CQ calls were his attempt to reach somebody--anybody--who would respond. In Seek You, Radtke uses this image as her jumping off point into a piercing exploration of loneliness and the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another. She looks at the very real current...

"HBO's four-season TV adaptation of My Brilliant Friend has enjoyed success with critics and viewers in the U.S.; the novel has been adapted for the stage and radio plays. Here, for the first time, it is brought to vivid life as a graphic novel by one of Italy's most beloved illustrators. For Ferrante fans, for those new to Ferrante, for readers of graphic novels, Chiara Lagani's and Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend: the graphic novel is a thrilling...

In 2009, Tessa Brunton experienced the first symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome). She spent much of the next eight years unwell, in a medical holding pattern, housebound and often alone. In 2017, she found a strategy that helped reduce her symptoms, and soon began creating the first installments of a graphic memoir. Notes from a Sickbed collects previously released and brand-new, unseen comics that recall...

"Life is not a race. There are no winners and losers. Immeasurable people are doing better than you... immeasurably worse. You are statistically average. For over ten years, fictional Luke Healy has invested all of his self-esteem into his career. But two years post publication of his latest book, and suffering the blow of his twin-brother not finding him fit to act as best man, both Luke's career and self-esteem seem to have disintegrated. Set against...

"Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music--and to each other--always brings them back together again. As the band races toward their first live concert, Mafuyu struggles to write lyrics for their new song,...

"Dr. Harleen Quinzel has a theory: mental illness is a survival mechanism. As she seeks to help the broken souls of Gotham City piece together their sanity she will become the one thing she fears the most: one of them. A bold new retelling of the tragic origin of Harley Quinn told through the eyes of the only person who knows her better than anyone: Harleen. It's been months since Harleen began interviewing criminals at Arkham Asylum, and she's having...

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music--and to one another--always brings them back together again. Hiragi's band -- with Uenoyama's help -- is ready to make their big debut. And Mafuyu, who's been wishy-washy...

An epic rager based on a timeless classic--welcome to the new Roaring '20s with GATSBY! When middle-class Singaporean student Lu Zhao spends a summer on Long Island with his rich cousin Tommy, his assimilation into the opulent American lifestyle straps him into a collision course fueled by designer drugs, sex, deceit, and murder. GATSBY reimagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel as an LGBTQ-tinged, multicultural thriller for the Internet age....

Monica is a series of interconnected narratives that collectively tell the life story--actually, stories--of its title character. Clowes calls upon a lifetime of inspiration to create the most complex and personal graphic novel of his distinguished career. Rich with visual detail, an impeccable ear for language and dialogue, and thrilling twists, Monica is a multilayered masterpiece in comics form that alludes to many of the genres that have defined...