Fake Blood #[nn]

Whitney Gardner's Fake Blood arrives with a cover that perfectly captures its mix of middle-school anxiety and offbeat humor — a purple-haired kid sits in a lone yellow chair, holding up a grinning mask while comic books and a backpack are scattered at his feet, all bathed in a dusky pink twilight with a crescent moon hanging over a treeline. Gardner's warm, expressive linework makes it immediately clear this is a story where putting on a persona might be the only way to survive. Published by Simon and Schuster in 2018, this graphic novel looks like a thoroughly charming read for anyone who's ever tried a little too hard to impress someone.