Synopsis
Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen’s investigation takes us back to Anka’s life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge.
From: Fantagraphics
Notes on This Title
The main character of this title is a queer 10 year old girl who is half Mexican. A major supporting character is Jewish.
The first volume depicts the sexual exploitation of minors, the death of a parent from cancer, and an attempted sexual assault.
The second volume has scenes set in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. A classmate of the main character who is Black and appears in the first volume is confirmed to be trans in the second.
Awards
2018 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Graphic Story
2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel
2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story - Nominee
2018 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Graphic Novel
2018 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize
2018 Prism Award Nominee for Best Small to Midsize Press Comic or Graphic Novel
2018 Eisner Award Winner for Best Graphic Album—New
2018 Harvey Award for Book of the Year - Nominee
2019 Angoulême Fauve d'Or
Reviews
Starred review: “This is a book that surprises at every turn. It’s about the power of art, the nature of monsters, the way secrets keep unfolding, and everything else Karen’s investigations can uncover. It’s the best graphic novel to come along in recent memory.” (Source: Publishers Weekly)
“Karen stands at the book’s heart, pen in hand, dwarfed by the hard, strange world that surrounds her, but undaunted. Above all, Ferris’s work is an account of this young artist as she comes to terms with herself and the world.” (Source: The Guardian)
Interviews
The Comics Journal: “The Emil Ferris Interview: Monsters, Art and Stories”
A second book was released recently
Book 2 came out this year.
Still waiting for my hold to come in at the library! We’ll update the page once we’ve had a chance to review the second volume.
Yay!