I’ve been on a comics reading roll lately. YA horror comics have been my biggie, but I’ve definitely also been stacking up a number of sports comics, too. My brain isn’t able to deeply invest in a novel or work of nonfiction right now, and comics have been the perfect way to read a great story and appreciate art. It’s a win-win. I played basketball in middle school, followed by badminton in high school. Both sports were ones I just adored while playing, but being a short person, I knew basketball wasn’t a long-lasting sport competitively for me. Badminton was, until I found myself burned out and unwilling to tolerate a sexist, belittling coach any longer. I quit junior year, and though I don’t regret it, to this day, I wish I had a local badminton organization locally to get back into the sport (and before you say it’s not a sport, it is — you run more than a football player, your body becomes riddled with bruises and marks from throwing yourself on the ground, and whether playing singles or doubles, strategy is key to success, just like any other sport). This week, I thought I’d highlight some outstanding recent YA sports comics. These cover a wide range of sports and are both fiction and nonfiction. Some of the books will be fairly familiar, while others will, I hope, be new ones for your reading radar. Though none of these books feature badminton, I’m hopeful some day we’ll see an excellent badminton graphic novel or memoir. Until then, the good news is there are dozens of outstanding sports comics to pick up. So when Luna comes back and hopes to reestablish her friendship with Ren, she finds Ren not easily reciprocating. Ren’s got a lot going on in her life, including her dedication to the school’s basketball team. Luna joins the team, and the book follows the ways their friendship has ups and downs, twists and turns, and moments that shape the entirety of who they are as individuals — and as a pair. I always like to note when an author is Indigenous, since their stories are too often not highlighted as such. Leong is mixed Indigenous, making this a rare Indigenous YA comic. I love stories about teens who quit things. We simply don’t have enough quitter books, and in a world where we don’t encourage giving up when it’s time to do so, we need more opportunities to showcase why quitting is sometimes the best thing you can do in your life.
