TRANS* & Nonbinary
Lending LibraryMooncakes
written and illustrated by
Wendy Xu (she/her) and
Suzanne Walker (she/her)
2019 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist
2019 Cybils Award Finalist
2020 Hugo Award Nominee
A 2020 ALA Rainbow Top Ten Book
A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft. Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any townhome. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.
Exerpts from a the Lesbrary review;
When it comes to Mooncakes, I’d say that I came for the romance and stayed for the representation. Tam goes by they/them pronouns. Seeing they pronouns used in YA comics and YA lit is something I’ll never get tired of. In addition, Nova is hard-of-hearing, which is integral to how she approaches her life and magic. And of course, the Chinese-American rep is everything.
Like an actual mooncake, Mooncakes is more than meets the eye. Along with the excellent representation, the story taps into Tam and Nova’s struggles with their own hopes and dreams and fears in unexpected way. The two support each other and push each other to be better…
If you’re looking for a sweet, magical comic to fill a few hours, then Mooncakes is it.
Author Suzanne Walker writes about representation here; https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2016/01/writing-disability-in-comics/