Oni Press
Lilah Sturges (author), Meaghan Carter (illustrator), Joamette Gil (cartoonist)
My Thoughts:
Graphic novels, comics, manga, have always been gender fluid and Girl Haven is no exception with the main character, Ash, being at the brink of a personal realization that he is a trans girl even if others see him as a boy. It is not shocking to bring this type of resource into a middle school classroom. What I know for sure is that comics, especially manga have androgynous and even feminine male characters with big eyes and high cheekbones. It never was a shock and I have been reading manga (in Japanese and in Japan) since the mid 1970s.
What is different about this book, though, is the note about identity at the end of the book. It makes it more obvious that this is for a younger audience who would like some questions answered around gender identity, gender expression and sexuality. When the stories put characters in a fantasy world to work out issues around fears, gender and the power of love, we are able to get away from the trauma around social "norms" that haunt our children who are targeted as "different," "abnormal," and "queer."
This is another have in the classroom and let it wait for the right child kind of book. Thanks to Oni Press for continuing to allow stories to unfold like this without plastering LGBTQIA and queer youth on the cover or in the merchandising, which sometimes scares the curious reader who just wants to learn more, but also enjoy an adventure.
From the Publisher:
Full of wonder, humor, and heart, Girl Haven is the newest original story from the author of Lumberjanes.
Three years ago, Ash’s mom left home and never returned, leaving behind a husband and child and a shed full of mystical curiosities related to the all-girl fantasy world she’d created as a child—Koretris. One day Ash invites a new group of friends from Pride Club over, and they try one of the spells to enter Koretris. To their amazement, they’re all transported to a magical realm filled with human-sized talking animals who are fiercely protective of their world and are ready to fight to protect it. But if Koretris is real, why is Ash there? Everyone has always called Ash a boy—shouldn’t the spell have kept Ash out? And what does it mean if it let Ash in?
Three years ago, Ash’s mom left home and never returned, leaving behind a husband and child and a shed full of mystical curiosities related to the all-girl fantasy world she’d created as a child—Koretris. One day Ash invites a new group of friends from Pride Club over, and they try one of the spells to enter Koretris. To their amazement, they’re all transported to a magical realm filled with human-sized talking animals who are fiercely protective of their world and are ready to fight to protect it. But if Koretris is real, why is Ash there? Everyone has always called Ash a boy—shouldn’t the spell have kept Ash out? And what does it mean if it let Ash in?
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