Thompson's Good-bye, Chunky Rice is enjoyable too. It would make a good gift for a friend starting a journey (literal or metaphorical).
The graphic novel genre has been largely about men and boys, but I'm more interested in stories by and about women, and feminist stories. Here are some along those lines that I've enjoyed:
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, tells the story of a young Iranian girl growing up during the revolution. She begins comes of age during this turbulent time and deals with personal, social, and political issues. It's a loss-of-innocence story, and it's beautifully drawn and well-written.
Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming, by Rachel Hartman, is another coming-of-age story, this time in a fantastical setting. It's about the expectations we set for ourselves as we become more conscious of our personhood, from the point of view of an adolescent girl. This book has a great and playful energy.
One! Hundred! Demons!, by Lynda Barry, is a memoir of the trials of childhood and adolescence, told in serialized comics and collected in this self-described "autobifictionalography" - it poses the questions: "Is it autobiography if parts of it are not true? Is it fiction if parts of it are?" These questions carve out a space for reading and appreciating this book, because it asks you to be comfortable with the transience of memory. Remember the fears of your childhood? Your first kiss? Someone you hurt when you were young, and for whom you still carry shame and regret? The age when you became self-conscious of your dancing? Lynda Barry's book is about facing the demons that live in our past and occasionally rise up in our present. It is beautiful and ugly at the same time. It's poignantly and powerfully written. This is a book for people with a desire to better understand themselves.
