Graphic Medicine Collection
a guide to the graphic medicine books and resources through UMass Amherst Libraries
Share a Recommendation
Is the library missing a graphic medicine novel that you want to read?
Send an email to the Ellen Lutz, Health Sciences Librarian, with the title so she can see about adding a copy to the library collection.
Graphic Medicine Titles about Mental Health
American Widow by
"At the heart of "American Widow" is the notion of Sept. 11 as a personal, rather than a national or political, tragedy, which, this achingly tender work reminds us, is exactly what it was." -- LA Times Want to honor those who passed during 9-11? Turn off the stupid documentary glorifying all of those images we've seen over and over, and read this sincere account of how that fateful day effected one person that represents all of us." -- Aint It Cool News "[A] raw, occasionally maddening, bracing graphic memoir... Unbearably moving." -- The New York Times Book Review "Reading it, you feel that Torres could be your friend or neighbor; she makes an epic tragedy intimate." -- Newsday On September 10, 2001, Eddie Torres started his dream job at Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The next morning, he said goodbye to his 7½-months-pregnant wife, Alissa, and headed out the door. In an instant, Alissa's world was thrown into chaos. Forced to deal with unimaginable challenges, Alissa suddenly found herself cast into the role of "9/11 widow," tossed into a storm of bureaucracy, politics, patriotism, mourning, consolation, and, soon enough, motherhood. Beautifully and thoughtfully illustrated, American Widow is the affecting account of one woman's journey through shock, pain, birth, and rebirth in the aftermath of a great tragedy. It is also the story of a young couple's love affair: how a Colombian immigrant and a strong-minded New Yorker met, fell in love, and struggled to fulfill their dreams. Above all, American Widow is a tribute to the resilience of the human heart and the very personal story of how one woman endured a very public tragedy.
Call Number: HV6432.7 .T67 2008ISBN: 9780345500694Publication Date: 2008-09-09
At War with Yourself by
"I had the idea to make a comic about your experience of PTSD. I'd like to understand more about it and I think it could help other people too." In this illustrated conversation between Samuel C. Williams and his friend, Matt, they talk candidly about Matt's struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. From scoping out quick exits in coffee shops to re-experiencing traumatic events through triggers as seemingly insignificant as a sound or smell, Matt describes his unique experiences of the condition, how he has learnt to cope with it, and his new career path. This comic will offer support and understanding to anyone who has been affected by PTSD no matter what the cause.
Call Number: RC552.P67 W547 2016ISBN: 9781848192959Publication Date: 2016-04-21
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by
#1 New York Times Bestseller 2014 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST In her first memoir, New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents. When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the "crazy closet"--with predictable results--the tools that had served Roz well through her parents' seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed. While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies--an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades--the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care. An amazing portrait of two lives at their end and an only child coping as best she can, Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant will show the full range of Roz Chast's talent as cartoonist and storyteller.
Call Number: NC1429.C525 A3 2014ISBN: 9781608198061Publication Date: 2014-05-06
Dear Scarlet by
In this intimate and moving graphic memoir, Teresa Wong writes and illustrates the story of her struggle with postnatal depression in the form of a letter to her daughter Scarlet. Equal parts heartbreaking and funny, Dear Scarlet perfectly captures the quiet desperation of those suffering from PPD and the profound feelings of inadequacy and loss. Dear Scarlet is a poignant and deeply personal journey through the complexities of new motherhood, offering hope to those affected by PPD, as well as reassurance that they are not alone.
Call Number: RG852 .W66 2019ISBN: 9781551527659Publication Date: 2019-05-07
Ephemera by
Ephemera is a poetic and dreamlike take on a graphic memoir set in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child, and the gossamer existence of her mother. A lyrical entry in the field of graphic medicine, Ephemera is a story about a daughter trying to relate to a parent who struggles with mental illness. Gorgeously illustrated in a painted palette of warm, earthy tones, it is a quiet book of isolation, plants, confusion, acceptance, and the fog of childhood. Loewinsohn's debut book is an aching, meditative twist on autobiography, infusing the genre with an ethereal fusion of memory and imagination.
Call Number: PN6727.L64 E64 2023ISBN: 9781683966906Publication Date: 2023-03-21
Everything Is an Emergency by
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "A brilliant, honest, necessary book that exposes the intricacies of the human brain while showing us the way creativity and friendship can anchor us. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered if they see the world a little differently." -Ada Limón A New Yorker cartoonist illustrates his lifelong struggle with OCD in cartoon vignettes frank and funny Jason Adam Katzenstein is just trying to live his life, but he keeps getting sidetracked by his over-active, anxious brain. Mundane events like shaking hands or sharing a drink snowball into absolute catastrophes. Jason has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mental illness that compels him to perform rituals in order to protect himself from dangers that don't really exist. He checks, washes, over-thinks, rinse, repeat. He does his best to hide his embarrassing compulsions, and sometimes this even works. He grows up, worries about his first kiss, falls in love with making cartoons, moves to New York City -- which is magical and gross, etc. All the while, half his energy goes into living his life, while the other half is devoted to the increasingly ridiculous rituals he's decided to maintain to keep himself from fully short-circuiting, Then, he fully short-circuits. At his absolute lowest, Jason finally decides to do the things he's always been told to do to get better: exposure therapy and medication. These are the things that have always freaked him out, and they continue to freak him out. Also, they help him recover. Everything is an Emergency is a comic about all the self-destructive stories someone tells himself, over and over, until they start to seem true. In images surreal, witty, and confessional, Jason shows us that OCD can be funny, even when it feels like it's ruining your life.
Call Number: RC533 .K366 2020ISBN: 9780062950079Publication Date: 2020-06-30
Goblin Girl by
Every young person knows that most of the matches one finds on tinder likely harbour some combination of dubious intentions, dubious life goals and dubious (if not absent) sources of income. The gods seem to want to prove this truism wrong when Moa - broke, depressed, and living with a group of transients above an old store - matches with a very famous celebrity on the popular hook-up site. Drawn in a gorgeously contemporary style that echoes de Chirico and 80s design, Romanova delivers a riveting work of autobiography.
Call Number: PN6790.S883 R66313 2020ISBN: 9781683962830Publication Date: 2020-03-03
Graphic Gratitude Guides for a Practice of Gratitude by Call Number: BF575.G68 J646 2020ISBN: 9781649579348Publication Date: 2020-12-01Here I Am, I Am Me by This colorful graphic novel adventure through the brain demystifies and destigmatizes emotional and mental health for children through accessible language and lessons. Join author-illustrator Cara Bean in Here I Am, I Am Me, as she takes readers on an illustrated journey to the center of the brain. Each of the 9 chapters in this therapist-recommended book explores a different aspect of mental health, from the brain and the mind, to feelings and emotions. By portraying complex neuroscience concepts with a cast of illustrated characters (that represent parts of the brain), the book explains what is really going on in the reader's head in an accessible, approachable way that ultimately serves to empower the reader. Each chapter includes a "question map" that gives context to and helps frame the pages that follow as well as a "Bean Memory," which shares a first-person true story that illustrates the chapter's subject matter as it has played out in the author's life. The book doesn't talk down to its readers, and it doesn't pretend that teens are immune to mental health struggles: Cara Bean masterfully discusses crucial topics like depression, substance use and addiction, and suicide, all while equipping readers with mindfulness tips, specific resources, and empathetic affirmations. Readers will learn to destigmatize the conversation around mental health by reframing their thinking, learning how to use conscious language, and helping themselves and others through mental health dilemmas.
Call Number: RA790 .B422 2024ISBN: 9781523524389Publication Date: 2024-04-02
Killing and Dying by
Included on Best of 2015 lists from Washington Post and Publishers Weekly! A New York Times bestseller! "As a serious cartoonist, one secretly hopes to create "That Book": a book that can be passed to a literary-minded person who doesn't normally read comics; one that doesn't require any explanation or apology in advance and is developed enough in its attitude, humanity and complexity that it speaks maturely for itself... Adrian Tomine's Killing and Dying may finally be That Book, and I'm amazed and heartened by it."--Chris Ware, author of Building Stories Killing and Dying is a stunning showcase of the possibilities of the graphic novel medium and a wry exploration of loss, creative ambition, identity, and family dynamics. With this work, Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings, Scenes from an Impending Marriage) reaffirms his place not only as one of the most significant creators of contemporary comics but as one of the great voices of modern American literature. His gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates here: the weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family, the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century. "Amber Sweet" shows the disastrous impact of mistaken identity in a hyper-connected world; "A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture" details the invention and destruction of a vital new art form in short comic strips; "Translated, from the Japanese" is a lush, full-color display of storytelling through still images; the title story, "Killing and Dying", centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. In six interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving portrait of contemporary life. Tomine is a master of the small gesture, equally deft at signaling emotion via a subtle change of expression or writ large across landscapes illustrated in full color. Killing and Dying is a fraught, realist masterpiece.
Call Number: PN6727.T65 K55 2015ISBN: 9781770462090Publication Date: 2015-10-06
Little Things by
A collection of funny, poignant, and autobiographical short stories, Little Things looks at the aspects of daily life -- friendship, illness, death, work, crushes, love, jealousy, and fatherhood -- we take for granted. As each story loops into others, Jeffrey Brown shows how the smallest andseemingly most insignificant parts of everyday life can end up becoming the most meaningful. Brown's first full-length autobiographical book in several years, Little Things is also his most impressive, touching, and true.
Call Number: PN6727.B7575 Z46 2008ISBN: 9781416549468Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Living with a Black Dog by
One in four women and one in six men will suffer from depression at least once in their life. Few are immune. It was the greatly admired Winston Churchill, a depression sufferer for much of his life, who nicknamed this human condition "Black Dog." Living with a Black Dog is perhaps the most useful book ever created about depression. In simple text and strongly supportive illustrations, this slim volume examines, explains, and demystifies one of the most widespread and debilitating problems afflicting modern society. Whether you've struggled with your own Black Dog for years, wondered why you're feeling sort of "ruff" lately, or known someone shadowed by a dark canine, Living with a Black Dog is for you. Artist and writer Matthew Johnstone, a depression sufferer himself, delivers a moving and uplifting insight into life with this unsavory companion. Even better, the book shows the strength and support to be found within and around us to tame this shaggy beast and ultimately bring it to heel. Johnstone's book doesn't pretend to have all the answers. It doesn't resort to simple "dog tricks" for dealing with depression. But Living with a Black Dog does deliver understanding, hope, and the assurance that Black Dog days are not forever.
Call Number: RC537 .J65 2006ISBN: 9780740757433Publication Date: 2006-04-01
Marbles by
Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between "crazy" and "creative" in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers. Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity. Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, she finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, William Styron, and Sylvia Plath. She also researches the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder, including the strengths and limitations of various treatments and medications, and what studies tell us about the conundrum of attempting to "cure" an otherwise brilliant mind. Darkly funny and intensely personal, Forney's memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on an artist's work, as she shares her own story through bold black-and-white images and evocative prose.
Call Number: PN6727.F678 M37 2012ISBN: 9781592407323Publication Date: 2012-11-06
Marie and Worrywart by
Marie and Worrywart is a collection of comics about anxiety. Read for free on silversprocket.net Follow the adventures of Marie and her annoying constant companion, Worrywart, as they jump to conclusions, worry about near impossibilities, and bicker! 32 pages, black and red ink, includes a resource list compiled by the author.
Call Number: BF575.A6 W663 2020ISBN: 9781945509575Publication Date: 2020-08-01
My Depression by
Liz Swados takes readers on a journey that is achingly familiar to the thousands who suffer from depression and equally poignant for those who do not. Readers feel the weight of her struggle to keep her condition a secret; laugh with her about the strange effects of the new drugs; empathise with the little things that sometimes trigger a massive relapse (the change of seasons, professional rejection); and watch as she tries to overcome the long-term effect of the suicides of her mother and brother.
Call Number: PS3569.W17 Z47 2005ISBN: 9781401307899Publication Date: 2005-04-13
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by
HARVEY AWARD WINNER The heart-rending autobiographical manga that's taken the internet by storm! My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is an honest and heartfelt look at one young woman's exploration of her sexuality, mental well-being, and growing up in our modern age. Told using expressive artwork that invokes both laughter and tears, this moving and highly entertaining single volume depicts not only the artist's burgeoning sexuality, but many other personal aspects of her life that will resonate with readers.
Call Number: PN6790.J33 N243713 2017ISBN: 9781626926035Publication Date: 2017-06-06
Pretending Is Lying by
Pretending Is Lying is a memoir unlike any other. The first book to appear in English by the acclaimed Belgian artist Dominique Goblet, it is at once an intimate account of love and familial dysfunction and an audacious experiment in graphic storytelling. In a series of dazzling fragments-skipping through time, and from raw, slashing color to delicate black and white-Goblet examines the most important relationships in her life- with her partner, Guy-Marc; with her daughter, Nikita; with her alcoholic, well-meaning father; and with her abusive mother. More than a decade in the making, the result is an unnerving comedy of paternal dysfunction, an achingly ambivalent love story (with asides on the Beach Boys), and a searing account of childhood trauma-a dizzying, unforgettable view of a life in progress and a tour de force of the art of comics.
Call Number: PN6790.B43 G627413 2017ISBN: 9781681370477Publication Date: 2017-02-07
Psychotic by
A moving autobiographical portrayal of psychosis and mental illness as shown through the experiences and writings of writer-poet Jacques Mathis. Jacques Mathis tells his own story--of a megalomaniacal man stuck in a body too small for his ideas. His childhood, spent in a dreary little town in Lorraine, France, came to a brutal end at the age of fourteen after he suffered his first episode of psychosis. Since that day, between repeated visits to psychiatric wards, Mathis had to find some way to carve out as much of a normal life as possible. With Psychotic, Jacques Mathis gives us a candid, inspirational account of his daily life, beginning with the day his disorder was first discovered and covering his many stays in psychiatric hospitals, his sessions with various doctors, his setbacks, and his triumphs.
Call Number: PN6747.M395 Z46 2021ISBN: 9781643375090Publication Date: 2021-08-17
Rosalie Lightning by
A Goodreads Choice Award Semi-Finalist, Amazon Best Book of 2016, one of The Washington Post's Best Graphic Novels of 2016, and one of Publishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of 2016 ROSALIE LIGHTNING is Eisner-nominated cartoonist Tom Hart's #1 New York Times bestselling touching and beautiful graphic memoir about the untimely death of his young daughter, Rosalie. His heart-breaking and emotional illustrations strike readers to the core, and take them along his family's journey through loss. Hart uses the graphic form to articulate his and his wife's on-going search for meaning in the aftermath of Rosalie's death, exploring themes of grief, hopelessness, rebirth, and eventually finding hope again. Hart creatively portrays the solace he discovers in nature, philosophy, great works of literature, and art across all mediums in this expressively honest and loving tribute to his baby girl. Rosalie Lighting is a graphic masterpiece chronicling a father's undying love.
Call Number: BF575.G7 H326 2016ISBN: 9781250049940Publication Date: 2016-01-12
RX: A Graphic Memoir by
A graphic memoir about the treatment of mental illness, treating mental illness as a commodity. In her early twenties in New York City, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Rachel Lindsay takes a job in advertising in order to secure healthcare coverage for her treatment. But work takes a strange turn when she is promoted onto the Pfizer account and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the curtain, developing ads for an anti-depressant drug. Overwhelmed by her professional life and the self-scrutiny it inspires, her mania takes hold. She quits her job to become an artist, only to be hospitalized by her parents against her will. Over the course of her two weeks in the ward, she tries to find a path out of the hospital and this cycle of treatment. One where she can live the life she wants, finding freedom and autonomy, without sacrificing her dreams in order to stay well.
Call Number: RC516 .L55 2018ISBN: 9781455598540Publication Date: 2018-09-04
Things to Do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park by
Aneurin (Nye) Wright hasn't been on good terms with his father for a long time. When he receives a call on his birthday from his father, Neil, he isn't quite sure how to react. Neil has been diagnosed with emphysema and is "certified for hospice," a six-month death sentence. He needs help. Newly unemployed, Nye is free to move into the trailer park where his father lives and assume the role of caregiver. Neither Nye nor Neil is particularly enthralled by the situation. Things to Do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park documents Nye's reconciliation with his father as he cares for him in hospice. Their daily schedule of pill counting and medical checks unfolds in an extraordinary world where the protagonist is a minotaur and his father a rhinoceros, social workers are sea turtles, and mobile homes move atop gigantic elephants. Curious neighbors and medical and social care workers--whether man or beast--become their friends, and the family comes together once more. Nye and his father become more intimate as they reveal more and more of their emotions to each other. As the old man battles against emphysema, his shortness of breath becomes more evident until his speech bubbles, previously charged with pithy comment, are mostly filled with pauses. Graphic artist Aneurin Wright's unforgettable debut is a universal tale of love and loss told in a wholly original way.
Call Number: R726.8 .W74 2015ISBN: 9780271071121Publication Date: 2015-11-15
Trauma Is Really Strange by
What is trauma? How does it change the way our brains work? And how can we overcome it? When something traumatic happens to us, we dissociate and our bodies shut down their normal processes. This unique comic explains the strange nature of trauma and how it confuses the brain and affects the body. With wonderful artwork, cat and mouse metaphors, essential scientific facts, and a healthy dose of wit, the narrator reveals how trauma resolution involves changing the body's physiology and describes techniques that can achieve this, including Trauma Releasing Exercises that allow the body to shake away tension, safely releasing deep muscular patterns of stress and trauma.
Call Number: RC552.P67 H33 2016ISBN: 9781848192935Publication Date: 2015-12-21
Two Heads by
This "charming and addictively accessible introduction to neuroscience" (Steven Pinker) takes us on a highly entertaining tour through the wonders and mysteries of the human brain--from a renowned husband-and-wife team of cognitive neuroscientists. Professors and husband-and-wife team Uta and Chris Frith have pioneered major studies of brain disorders throughout their nearly fifty-year career. Here, in this "pleasing mix of wonder, genial humor, and humility" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), they tell the compelling story of the birth of neuroscience and their paradigm-shifting discoveries across areas as wide-ranging as autism and schizophrenia research, and new frontiers of social cognition including diversity, prejudice, confidence, collaboration, and empathy. Working with their son Alex Frith and artist Daniel Locke, the Friths delve into a wide range of complex concepts and explain them with humor and clarity. You'll learn what it means to be a "social species," explore what happens when we gather in groups, and discover how people behave in pairs--when we're pitted against each other, versus when we work together. Is it better to surround yourself with people who are similar to yourself, or different? And, are two heads really better than one? Highly original and ingeniously illustrated, Two Heads is a "magical book...[and] a fantastically fun way to learn about the brain, the mind, and the lives of two of the world's most brilliant scientists" (Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, author of Inventing Ourselves).
Call Number: QP360.5 .F754 2022ISBN: 9781501194078Publication Date: 2022-04-26
What Does Death Look Like? by
What is Death?Is it a person, a place, a feeling?Is it good or bad?Is there a tunnel that we travel through and "go toward the light"?Do children think about Death differently than adults?Is Death our friend or our enemy?Is Death dark as night or a blazing white light?This is a collection of drawings by participants in my Death, Dying and Bereavement classes and workshops. Included are children, social workers, students, artists, nurses and other healthcare professionals.Their instructions were simply, "Draw Death".These drawings illustrate a variety of emotions including fear and sadness to hope and healingTHIS IS WHAT DEATH LOOKS LIKE
Call Number: BF789.D4 G767 2010ISBN: 9781450024693Publication Date: 2010-01-22
A Good and Decent Man by
* Premiere and author appearance at 2009 MoCCA Comic Art Festival inNYC * 2007's I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets won an EisnerAward (for Best Archival Collection) and sold over 15,000 copies in fourprintings * Viral promotion and distribution of multimedia assets(video previews, book page and photo galleries) via online social networks(MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc.) and the Fantagraphics.comwebsite
Call Number: PN6727.T954 Y68 2009ISBN: 9781606991442Publication Date: 2009-05-19
