Genseng Roots by Craig Thompson.

From ages 10 to 20, Craig Thompson (author of Blankets, Goodbye Chunky Rice, Habibi, Carnet De Voyage, Space Dumplins) and his little brother Phil, toiled in Wisconsin farms weeding and harvesting ginseng. The medicinal herb fetched huge profits in China and funded Craig’s youthful obsession with comic books. Comics, in turn, allowed him to escape his rural, working-class trappings.

For the first time in his career, Thompson is serializing his story. Part memoir, part travelogue, part essay— all comic book—Ginseng Roots is a sweeping narrative that unearths surprising connections between class divide, agriculture, holistic healing, the 300-year-long trade relationship between China and North America, childhood labor, and the bond between two brothers.

Craig Thompson is a cartoonist and the author of the award-winning books Blankets; Good-bye, Chunky Rice; and Habibi. He was born in Michigan in 1975 and grew up in a rural farming community in central Wisconsin. His graphic novel Blankets won numerous industry awards and has been published in nearly twenty languages. Thompson lives in Portland, Oregon.