Summer is in the air...

The sun is out. Birds are chirping; flowers, blooming. After a couple nice days in a row, we’re starting to fantasize about summer. Ah, summer, that most precious time in an educator’s year, when we finally have a chance to slow down and recover a bit from the grueling demands of the academic year. The first warm breeze and we’re making plans….

From events, to book releases, to craft projects, we share our (ideal) summer plans below:

Reading

If you can’t make it to the beach, you can still make a cozy outdoor reading nook with a hammock or lounge chair, a colorful beach umbrella or shade cloth, and of course, a table for drinks and snacks. The best forthcoming beach read may be Impossible People. If you want to start a summer book club (asynchronous or in person), The Talk offers much to ruminate on. And, for a blast to the complicated, fascinating past, look no further than Nuking Alaska. 

Julia Wertz’s comics are funny and honest, and her latest looks to be no different. Coming out May 9th, Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story, chronicles the author’s road to sobriety.

Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Darrin Bell publishes his first autobiographical graphic novel with The Talk. In it, he looks back at growing up Black in Los Angeles, and the ways the white world viewed him with fear. 

What better time to read about an Alaskan childhood and the Cold War than in the building summer heat? Peter Dunlap-Shohl’s Nuking Alaska: Notes of an Atomic Fugitive shares what is was like growing up under Cold War era nuclear threat in his distinctive style.

Inspired by the atomic era's fascination with all things futuristic and glowing, here’s a cocktail you can have while reading Nuking Alaska. 

Radioactive Pineapple Blast Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz pineapple juice

• 1.5 oz blue curaçao (for a non-alcoholic version, use blue curaçao syrup)

• 1.5 oz white rum (omit for a non-alcoholic version)

• 1 oz lime juice (freshly squeezed)

• 0.5 oz simple syrup (or adjust to taste)

• Ice

• Edible pearl dust or glitter (make sure it's food-safe)

• Pineapple wedge and a glow stick or LED ice cube for garnish (ensure the glow stick is non-toxic and safe for use with food).

Instructions:

• Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.

• Add pineapple juice, blue curaçao, white rum (if using), lime juice, and simple syrup to the shaker.

• Shake well for about 10-15 seconds, or until the outside of the shaker becomes frosty.

• Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice.

• Add a pinch of edible pearl dust or glitter to the cocktail and stir gently to create a shimmering, "radioactive" effect.

• Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a glow stick or LED ice cube to complete the atomic age theme.

  

Making

It turns out that most people won’t even wait for your book’s official release date before they ask “what are you working on next”? What if there isn’t another book length project in production? Maybe it’s fine to use summer to doodle George Herriman’s trees, local pollinators, and spirals of various sizes while waiting for inspiration to strike. Or catch up on all those SAW Friday Night Workshops and Sarabande’s Zine Lunches you worked through. 

If you are thinking of planning some summer picnics in the park, you can take some inspiration from gourmet manga and draw your food–and your guests’ gustatory delight. In addition to drawing that gingham tablecloth, it could be fun to draw an “exploded view” of a layered sandwich, a recipe for the best sweet tea, or the ants walking away with a slice of your strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Visiting

If you’re in New Mexico this Saturday, April 29th, be sure to check out our very own Amaris’ book release party - at Albuquerque Brewery Lizard Tail Brewing in Nob Hill from 6-8PM. She’ll be celebrating, and signing, her graphic diary, Unfiltered: A Cancer Year Diary. Or come say hi in Toronto at the Graphic Medicine Conference!

In addition to Toronto, we’ve got summer plans to travel far and wide this summer, from Arizona to Tennessee, and who knows, maybe even Alaska. We’ll be sure to bring our sketchbooks along. Amaris loves to visit National Parks and Nora’s ideal trip involves visiting a local cafe and grabbing pastry to snack on while she checks out the city (and its comic book shops!). What summer travels do you plan to document in a travel sketchbook? Take inspiration from Lucy Knisely, Whit Taylor, Eleanor Davis, or Ulli Lust and experiment with how to place the audience in your narrative.  

What books, events, and hands-on activities are you looking forward to in the warm months? Let us know in the comments!