Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story

Monstrous is a poignant, award-winning graphic memoir about a Korean-American teen who turns to fandom and art-making to survive racing bullying.

Sarah has always struggled to fit in. Born in South Korea and adopted at birth by a white couple, she grows up in a rural community with few Asian neighbors. People whisper in the supermarket. Classmates bully her. She struggles to contain her anger in these moments—but through it all, she has her art. A compulsive drawer from childhood, she fills page after page with what she can’t say out loud. When she discovers anime, her hobby deepens into obsession, offering escape and identity.

Though drawing and cosplay give her a way to step outside her reality, connection remains elusive. As she enters high school, the bullying intensifies—louder, meaner, more isolating than ever. Sarah’s bottled rage begins to threaten everything she’s built to keep herself together.

What follows is a raw, visually arresting journey through anger, imagination, and survival, as Sarah learns that the same forces that isolate her might also be the key to finding her voice.