On sale date: May 28, 2024
The most anticipated graphic novel of 2024, concluding the story of young Karen Reyes, the most inspiring "monster" in contemporary fiction.
New York Times Notable Books of 2024
Chicago Public Library Favorite Books of 2024
Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Books of 2024
NPR Books We Love 2024
The Guardian Best Graphic Novels of 2024
Library Journal Best Graphic Novels of 2024
Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the past decade. Presented as the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes as she tries to solve the murder of her beloved and enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold.
In Book Two, dark mysteries past and present continue to abound in the tumultuous and violent Chicago summer of 1968. Young Karen attends a protest in Grant Park and finds herself swept up in a police stomping. Privately, she continues to investigate Anka's recent death and discovers one last cassette tape that sheds light upon Anka's heroic activities in Nazi Germany. She wrestles with her own sexual identity, the death of her mother, and the secrets she suspects her brother Deez of hiding. Ferris's exhilarating cast of characters experience revelations and epiphanies that both resolve and deepen the mysteries visited upon them earlier. Visually, the story is told in Ferris's inimitable style that breathtakingly and seamlessly combines panel-to-panel storytelling and cartoon montages filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster mag iconography.
Praise
"Emil Ferris is one of the most important comics artists of our time." — Art Spiegelman (Maus)
"If you read Ferris's original 2017 graphic novel, you can't forget it: a beguiling, haunted hybrid of personal memoir, murder mystery and 20th-century time portal. This surreal and densely referential follow-up, drawn in Ferris's signature cross-hatched style, continues to follow 10-year-old Karen Reyes in circa-1968 Chicago as she wrestles with loss, sexual identity and a host of secrets." — The New York Times
"A thrilling and surprisingly profound novel ... The book is a fine balance of stunning artwork and terrific writing." — Chicago Tribune
"One of the most profound, ambitious, and accomplished creative works to appear in any medium this decade. ... Rarely have words and pictures worked together so seamlessly in service of such a complex narrative." — Forbes
"The novel tackles race, gender, and what it means to be 'monstrous' in big and small ways. It could not be more relevant to today's climate." — Mother Jones
Specs
- Pages
- 412
- Format
- Paperback / Softback
- Color
- Full-color.
- Dimensions
- 8.1" × 10.5"
- ISBN-13
- 9781683969273