“This Winter” by Alice Oseman and “Evenfall — A Golden Linnet” by Alexander Armstrong are aimed at both teenagers and parents.

Set in the Heartstopper universe, the young adult LGBTQ+ graphic novel, “This Winter,” covers the events of one particular Christmas with the Spring family. It’s a tastefully realized emotional roller coaster, a story of being a teenager, of being hurt, all rolled into one.

Christmas isn’t easy for the Spring family as they go through a particularly difficult day with Charlie. Struggling with an eating disorder and self-harm, Charlie returns from the psychiatric ward and unfortunately Spring’s extended family is unable to help him cope. While his parents struggle, Charlie finds support in the selfless love of his sister Tori and little brother Oliver.

Caught between a big feast and difficult conversations, we worry about Charlie. In a hundred pages, Alice Oseman says a lot about the world of today’s young people and the demons that torment them. It opens on an honest note with Tori admitting how much her internet addiction is harming her sleep.

It’s a new world, and here the young people are showing us how to navigate it. As Charlie so masterfully puts it: “When people know you have a mental illness, most want to either ignore it completely or treat you like you’re strange, scary, or fascinating. Very few people are actually good at the middle ground. The happy medium is not difficult. It’s just being there. Be helpful, if help is needed. Be understanding, even if they don’t understand everything.

Oseman always manages to tackle heavy topics with grace, capturing the intensity of teenage angst and the purity of love. Not only with the adorable Nick and Charlie, but also through the bond between siblings.

She describes healing beautifully, not in a linear way but as a process, a combination of good days and bad days. The depiction of parental conflict – knowing they care and yet failing more often than not – is heartfelt. Heartstopper has always inspired children, not just queer but in general, by affirming that love and care prevail, even if it sometimes feels like it never will.

“This Winter” shows how passionate, funny and picturesque love is, but most importantly, love is kind. To all the kids who don’t know who they are, read “This Winter” and maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn more about your Tori, your mother, and your Nick. This means that parents and grandparents understand their teenager a little better!

“Evenfall — A Golden Linnet” by Alexander Armstrong is beautifully woven around “quest.” It is an enchanting, multi-layered creation, exploring the complex emotions of adolescents in the company of wonderful characters and strange settings. It’s the touching story of a lonely boy, Sam, who tries to get by on his own and with his sick father. Just before he turned 13, his life took a dark turn and what he had always expected began to reveal itself one by one.

Armstrong’s first novel for children has everything they’re looking for. Mysticism, secret society, superpowers and a lonely child on a journey, finding allies, distinguishing friends from enemies, keeping you apart.

The fast-paced plot has many twists and turns, some quite fascinating. Set in Durham, a town of Viking heritage, it’s an interesting backdrop for the rather complicated fantasy of secret societies, way-too-rich villains, and, of course, mysterious walkers and glass eels.

It’s a surprisingly heavy family dynamic for a children’s novel, very reminiscent of the “Percy Jackson” series. The trace of the great lost city and its treasure is a trope that spoils originality to some extent. Language sometimes feels like an exercise in vocabulary expansion. This certainly benefits some characters – the gazillionaire antagonist’s dialogue hits harder in the rich, snotty tone of voice. But too solemn for a 13 year old.

Overall, it’s a good start, especially for a beginner’s novel. It ticks all the right boxes. Multiracial: We have Ishan Bhat and his family at the center, along with others. One of the marchers, Nathaniel, makes a nod to feminism early on. It is hoped that future editions of “Evenfall” will do justice to its complexity and not cheapen it to appeal to a supposedly young audience.