A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings: A Graphic Memoir - Paperback

by Will Betke-Brunswick (Author)

A Finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Comics

A Modern Mrs. Darcy's Best Book of Fall

A Shondaland Best Book of November

"Filled with moments of tenderness and humor." ―Library Journal, Starred Review

An unexpected and poignant debut graphic memoir about a close-knit family approaching loss, and the wonder and joy they create along the way.

During Will Betke-Brunswick's sophomore year of college, their beloved mother, Elizabeth, is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. They only have ten more months together, which Will documents in evocative two-color illustrations. But as we follow Will and their mom through chemo and hospital visits, their time together is buoyed by laughter, jigsaw puzzles, modern art, and vegan BLTs. In a delightful twist, Will portrays their family as penguins, and their friends are cast as a menagerie of birds. In between therapy and bedside chats, they navigate uniquely human challenges, as Will prepares for math exams, comes out as genderqueer, and negotiates familial tension.

A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings is an act of loving others and loving oneself, offering a story of coming-of-age, illness, death, and life that announces the arrival of a talented storyteller in Will Betke-Brunswick. At its heart, Will's story is a celebration of a mother-child relationship filled with unconditional devotion, humor, care, and openness.

Author Biography

Will Betke-Brunswick is a cartoonist and a recent graduate of the California College of the Arts MFA in Comics program. Will's work has appeared in the new print edition of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves; How to Wait: An Anthology of Transition; and the websites INTO and Autostraddle. A former high school math teacher, Will lives in Boulder, Colorado.