For Frenk Meeuwsen, a drawing is like a Zen garden: wavy lines on snow-white paper. In those lines, he searches for the essence of Japan, for truth, and for himself. His book Zen Without a Master is visual philosophy. How does the sound of one clapping hand sound? This famous riddle from Zen philosophy is simply solved by Meeuwsen: it 'sounds' like applause in sign language for the deaf. Of course he makes a drawing of it, but this solution is also characteristic of his approach to spirituality, because it makes you laugh. With Dutch common sense, he tackles Japanese Buddhism, and thus comes to surprising discoveries.-Joost Polmann

2023 ALA Best Graphic Novels for Children The daughter of a river god, raised by a human father and bound to a tragic destiny. An African fantasy-adventure graphic novel inspired by the mythology of the Zambezi River and the history of the Kariba Dam, one of the largest dams ever constructed. From the director of Aau’s Song, a Star Wars: Visions film from Lucasfilm, and the director of the 2023 NYICFF award-winning The Smeds and the Smoos Siku has always called the Zambezi River her home. She understands the water – and strangely enough, it seems to understand her, too, bending to her will and coming to her aid in times of need. But things are changing on the river – a great dam is being built, displacing thousands of Shonga people – and things are changing in Siku, too, as her ability to manipulate water grows out of control, and visions of a great serpent pull her further from reality and her loving father, Tongai. When Tongai ventures to the Kariba Dam to find a cure for Siku and never returns, she sets off to find him with the help of Amedeo, the young son of Kariba’s chief engineer. Together, they traverse elephant graveyards, rugged jungles, and ancient ruins, outrunning pirates, bootleggers, and shape-shifting prophets ready to use Siku to their own advantage. But Siku soon discovers that her father has been shielding a terrible secret: Siku is actually the daughter of the Great River Spirit, Nyaminyami, and the only way to bring about the necessary rumuko - a ritual which has brought balance to the Zambezi for centuries - is for Siku to give up the only life she's ever known. With the future of the Shonga resting on her shoulders, Siku must journey to the source of the river to understand the ancient power hidden within her.

Is it a career, or a series of really lame jobs? Stephen Beaupre (author) and Steve Lafler (cartoonist) pose this timeless question in Forty Hour Man, a hilarious saga of one working stiff's three-decade journey into the minimum wage heart of the American Dream. It's all here - from scrubbing a steakhouse floor with a toothbrush to going bust in the Internet boom. Every bad boss. Every crazy co-worker. All the more shocking because it's true! Stephen Beaupre is a writer, editor, and unrepentant amateur musician. He is best known to comic aficionados as the former co-publisher of the Cat-Head Comics imprint and editor of Buzzard, the 90's preeminent comic anthology. Post-comic pursuits include Beyond the Fringe, a long-running humor column featured in Worcester Magazine, and hard time in the Internet trench as writer/editor for popular online destinations such as Angelfire, Tripod, and Monster. He is inordinately fond of pancakes.

Tenor saxophone maestro Jimmy Watts leads his talented band of bugs from the swing era into the uncharted maelstrom of Bebop. As he and his band mates claw their way to the top of the jazz world, they must fight the temptation to be consumed by addiction to a substance known as "Bug Juice".Inspired by the postwar explosion of Bohemian cultural styles from artists as diverse as jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and Beat avatar William Burroughs, cartoonist Steve Lafler delivers his indigo-tinged masterwork graphic novel, BugHouse.

Notorious alt/indy comix legend Steve Lafler (BugHouse, Dog Boy, Buzzard) returns with the story of Jack, Susie, and of course Ramona. We travel to Manhattan of 1956 to meet our players, who haunt the wholesale Garment District by day, and the legendary jazz clubs of 52nd Street by night.Jack and Susie, junior buyers for the McCurdy's chain of department stores, are ambitious kids trying to make their mark as they vie for the position of Chief Buyer. And hey, maybe they happen to fall in love on the side? We'll see!Ramona hails from Texas, a young trans woman looking to be herself in the atmosphere of 1950s New York City. It ain't easy! She descends into working the streets to support herself while she dreams of becoming a fashion model.Against this backdrop, our cast of players congregate in the jazz clubs at night and begin to scheme. Are they competing with each other? Or do they work together to realize their dreams?

Tenor sax maestro Jimmy Watts leads his talented band of bugs from the swing era into the maelstrom of Bebop. As he claws his way to the top, he fights the temptation to be consumed by addiction.