Don’t Cosplay with My Heart

In this introspective drama, a young woman seeks refuge from her dysfunctional life by cosplaying as her favorite comic book character. As hero and occasional villain Gargantua, Edan Kupferman feels confident enough to handle anything, including her father’s legal troubles. But as she immerses herself in costuming and conventions, she has to put up with toxic fandom and accusations of being a fake geek girl. Edan’s boyfriend turns out to be a jerk, but her new friend Kirk seems to really get her—and she’ll need all the help she can get as her father seems poised to go to jail. Castellucci (Stone in the Sky) infuses this story with a deep and abiding love of comics culture, while simultaneously addressing real sexism within the community. Interspersed passages detail the history of Gargantua’s series, Team Tomorrow (Castellucci takes some minor liberties, giving her team an African-American hero years before Marvel’s Black Panther showed up, for example), and the underlying themes of confidence, self-reliance, and feminism come through with a strength worthy of Gargantua herself. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit. (Jan.)