![\"Lumberjanes\"](\"http:\/\/www.danverslibrary.org\/readthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/lumberjanes.jpg\")
<\/a>Lumberjanes, vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy<\/a> <\/strong>by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis<\/strong>\n“Friendship to the max! At Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s camp for hardcore lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal,\u00a0Molly and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together–and they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!”<\/em><\/p>\n
For me, reading graphic novels acts as both a palate cleanser and a productivity boost:\u00a0something to reinvigorate a reading slump after a couple of disappointing choices (I’m looking at\u00a0you,\u00a0Modern Romance<\/em>)\u00a0and allow me to finish a self-contained work in an afternoon (gotta pump up\u00a0those Goodreads counts, y’all). What I did not plan, however, was falling completely in love with\u00a0both\u00a0Lumberjanes<\/em> and the new iteration of Ms. Marvel. Thinking I would just casually flip through my\u00a0copies of\u00a0Beware the Kitten Holy<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0No\u00a0Normal<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and then scurry off to something else\u00a0was a rookie mistake. After reading the last panel of\u00a0Lumberjanes, vol. 1<\/em>, I slowly savored each page of\u00a0extra content, unwilling to close the flap and declare the journey over. What were Jo, April, Mal, Molly,and Ripley up to and how soon would their adventures arrive in the next trade edition? I was able to\u00a0satisfy my thirst for more “hard-core lady-types” with Kamala Khan, but diving into her world only\u00a0allowed a binge session of\u00a0No Normal<\/em>,\u00a0Generation Why<\/a><\/em>, and then Crushed<\/a><\/em>…followed by the inevitable position of being\u00a0caught up with a finite number of issues. (Like bingeing on Netflix only to be faced with one new episode\u00a0weeks apart. PURE. AGONY.)<\/p>\n![\"Ms.Marvel\"](\"http:\/\/www.danverslibrary.org\/readthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/ms-marvel.jpg?w=96\")
<\/a>Ms. Marvel, vol. 1: No Normal<\/a>, vol. 2: Generation Why<\/a>, and vol. 3, Crushed<\/a> <\/strong>by G. Willow Wilson and\u00a0Mark Waid<\/strong>
\n“Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City – until she’s suddenly empowered with extraordinary\u00a0gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the\u00a0Marvel Universe by storm!”<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"ms.marvel_wolverine\"](\"http:\/\/www.danverslibrary.org\/readthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/ms-marvel_wolverine.png?w=179\")
<\/a>Both Lumberjanes<\/em> and Ms. Marvel<\/em> are quick studies in supernatural and speculative fiction\u00a0(respectively), showcasing kick ass females, body positivity, and self-reliance. Kamala might wear a dress\u00a0and be an \u00fcber fangirl toward Wolverine (he exists irl okay, and it is awesome), but she still knows how\u00a0to throw an epic punch and battle a robot Thomas Edison – ’cause exhibiting stereotypical feminine\u00a0characteristics does not mean a person is weak, thank you very much, and G. Willow Wilson makes sure\u00a0we know that just as much as Kamala does. Then there’s the graphic novel equivalent of actual female\u00a0bodies peppered throughout Lumberjanes<\/em> – tattooed and soft and short and tall and leggy and\u00a0masculine – paired with an “everybody is strong in their own way” message that never feels forced or\u00a0heavy handed. Even if I can’t be any of these girls, I want to at least know them and soak up their self-esteem and feminism. (Because any good reader knows that a journey of self-empowerment does not\u00a0end in the pages of the book.)<\/p>\n![\"ms.marvel3\"](\"http:\/\/www.danverslibrary.org\/readthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/ms-marvel3.png?w=281\")
<\/a>There’s a reason each paperback is aimed at teens and tweens – hello high school politics and\u00a0post-puberty body shame – but there’s also no good reason why the totally rad (yet sadly fictional)\u00a0exploits of five teenagers or Kamala’s journey of self-discovery can’t also apply to twenty- and thirty-somethings grasping at their own self-identity. Being kind to yourself and celebratory of your own\u00a0strengths is hard, y’all, but the hardcore ladies of Lumberjanes<\/em> get it. And so, too, does Kamala:\u00a0developing the ability to be her own hero, Captain Marvel, comes with its own disappointments, and\u00a0Kamala soon figures out that she’s physically stronger when she doesn’t change, and that instead of\u00a0feeling liberated by the blonde hair and legs, the whole thing leaves her feeling exhausted. It’s a major\u00a0plot point, but, hell, it’s also great life advice. (You go, girl.)<\/p>\n