If you’re a comics fan, you’re going to be thrilled to see that April’s new comics releases have a ton to choose from. While things are quieter on the nonfiction front–we’ve only got one new release there–that means there’s time to read your way through a number of comics (and maybe even catch up a bit on your backlist).
This month’s offerings include the third in a hilarious series inspired by real life, a comic exploring the world of girl stunt reporters, and a clever retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
New YA Comics, April 2025
Brielle and the Bear: Volume 1 by Salomey DokuBrielle is a first year college student at Once Upon a Time University. She’s a bookish girl with a real sweet spot for all things romantic. She dreams of that fairy tale happily ever after. She might see it happen, too, thanks to meeting and swooning over Bear. He’s everything person. At least, that’s what it seems. The truth is Bear has a big secret. It’s the kind of secret that could shatter this picture-perfect love before it ever truly gets started. |
The Flip Side by Jason WalzAfter Theo’s best friend dies, he falls into a deep depression. Also, his world flips upside down. Literally–the entire town is now upside down, and everyone disappears. The only things remaining are a shapeshifting monster, as well as a teenage girl who seems to know everything about this new, confusing, empty world. Theo worries he’s forever stuck now in this world with no way to escape from the darkness, the sadness, and the always-there impending doom. If you’re looking for a great comic about mental health, this one looks like a must-read. |
Huda F Wants To Know? by Huda FahmyHuda Fahmy is back with the third installment in her hilarious slice-of-Muslim-high-schooler-life comic series, inspired by her own life. Each of these comics can be read solo, but if you haven’t picked up the first two, you’ll really want to. It’s Huda’s junior year, and she’s ready to make it her best year possible. She’s going to get involved in school and ace all her classes. Everything will be coming up Huda! But then her parents announce they’re getting a divorce. It’s something Huda cannot imagine, and she’s worried about how this might look to her tight-knit Muslim community. As her plans for an incredible junior year begin to slip from her, can she find opportunities to create new roads and futures for herself? This entry into the series sees Huda looking for romance, as well as exploring her mental health. Fahmy does an exceptional job showcasing the challenges people of faith, especially of the Muslim faith, and people of color can and do face when it comes to stigma and fear about addressing mental health. |
Renegade Girls by Nora Neus and illustrated by Julie RobineThe era of “stunt girl” reporters is one of my favorite in news history, even if it is extremely complicated. Many of these “girl reporters” did hard-hitting, life-altering journalism without the credit they deserve for it at the behest of newspaper owners who saw an opportunity to brag about the lengths these girls would go for a story. One such reporter was Nellie Bly. Neus and Robine’s comic isn’t nonfiction, but it is inspired by “stunt girl” reporters like Bly and so many others. It follows 17-year-old Nell, who arrives in New York eager to make a name for herself as a journalist. She dreams of big stories, but she’s been relegated to the society section of the paper she’s working for. It’s a chance meeting with photographer Alice Austen that helps Nell rethink a bit about the kind of work she could do (and it doesn’t hurt that Nell immediately catches some feelings for Alice, too). So when Nell’s best friend Lucia is hurt while at work in a local garment factory, Nell sees the opportunity she’s been waiting for: she’s going to go undercover and investigate the conditions of that factory and bring it to light for all to read. It won’t be easy, especially as more and more opponents to Nell’s writing are trying to stop her for helping get change made. |
New YA Nonfiction, April 2025
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace FlemingIt might be a quieter month for YA nonfiction, but it sure is a good one. If you are fascinated by cults–or find yourself newly interested in how people get sucked into wild belief systems without thinking critically for themselves–this one will be right up your alley. Jim Jones, leader of one of the most notorious cults in history, The People’s Temple, managed to convince 900 people to drink cyanide to their ultimate deaths. But how did he do it? This book traces Jones’s story from his youth growing up during the Great Depression to where and how he convinced people to follow him and his beliefs. You’ll follow Jones and his devotees from California to their off-grid Jonestown compound in the depths of Guyana. |
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting the best new poetry collections of 2025 (so far)! From the from deeply personal to powerfully political, many of these collections reflect the zeitgeist and introduce some fresh voices in poetry. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
How is it that we’re already more than a quarter of the way through 2025? I’m ahead of my reading goals and still feel so far behind at the same time. I’ve packed in plenty of poetry, though, finding lots of wonderful and surprising voices emerging. It’s early, but totally time to check in with some of the best new poetry collections of 2025 so far.
It’s funny how timely these collections are. Keep in mind that publishing moves VERY SLOWLY, so books that have been released in the first quarter of 2025 were probably completed in late 2023 or early 2024, only seeing the light of day recently. So, these collections were written in the run-up to last year’s presidential election. Nevertheless, many of these collections feel like guttural reactions to the world right now. Amazing how prescient art and artists can be, huh?
These poetry collections run the gamut from deeply personal to powerfully political. Let’s face it, those two are often the same anyway, particularly when it comes to poetry. Most exciting to me is how many of these best new poetry collections of 2025 so far are fresh voices to the poetic scene. Let’s dig into those collections, shall we?
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