Smile, by Raina Telgemeier

Smile is an adventure in orthodontics.  The author chronicles the pre-teen trauma of knocking out her front teeth and the dental procedures that followed over the next few years.  This is a warm, lighthearted read with some social awkwardness and a few cringe-worthy moments.  The illustrations are colourful and inviting, and the story has more substance than most graphic novels (or non-fiction) for children.

Footnotes in Gaza, by Joe Sacco

Joe Sacco may be the graphic novelist I most admire, no less for there being nothing novelistic about his work.  Sacco's intricately-researched books are more accurately described as graphic journalism.  They centre on first-hand interviews with residents of war zones and survivors of horrific events, transforming news headlines into human stories.  The best known are Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde, both powerful texts with lasting value. 

With Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco aims his pen to the past, delving into two massacres that occurred in Gaza in 1956.  These events in Khan Younis and Rafah were lost as historical footnotes, barely noted in  contemporary UN reports.  The book intersperses Sacco's interviews with elderly residents about 1956 with details of daily life in these Palestinian neighbourhoods.  In 2002 and 2003 when Sacco was conducting research, the second intifada was active, home demolitions were a regular occurrence, and Israel had not yet withdrawn from Gaza.

There is a gentleness to Sacco's writing.  He is a compassionate journalist who tries to get as close to the truth as possible without endangering or exploiting his assistants or interviewees.  I found this book more painful to read than his previous work, whether due to the graphic depictions of violence and abuse, or merely because I have forgotten the details of his previous books.  I may need to reread Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. 

I'd recommend these books widely to adults and older teens.

Stitches, by David Small

Stitches is a revelation.  David Small may be a Caldecott winning illustrator, but many adults will not have known his name before this memoir appeared.  The story is precise and painful, documenting a grim and unloved childhood in the 1950's.  The grayscale illustrations are perfect; simple but full of alienation and menace.  I am amazed that this man could overcome so many uncaring moments to become a successful and functional adult.  His story is gripping.

Logicomix, by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou

A graphic biography of philosopher/mathematician/logician Bertrand Russell and his quest to solve all of logic's unanswered questions.  While primarily historical, liberties have been taken in order to tighten the narrative.

An unlikely success, part of the growing body of ambitious graphic nonfiction that's being published these days.