Tough Love: High School Confidential

Abby Denson

iyn, 2006 · Northwest Press

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Inspired by shounen-ai manga—melodramatic Japanese comics by girls about gay boys—Tough Love is a teen romance and coming-out story about a shy boy named Brian. More realistic than Japanese manga, this story centers on the relationships Brian develops with the boy he likes, Chris, and Julie, the girl who befriends him. Serious issues like gay bashing, suicide, and coming to terms with one’s own sexual identity are depicted with an honest, gentle touch. Socially relevant, fun, immediately accessible, and a bit of a soap opera, Tough Love helps gay teenagers to be more comfortable with themselves and less troubled, especially when they’re feeling alone and misunderstood.

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Lulu Award-winner Abby Denson studied illustration at the Parsons School of Design and has taught and lectured at such venues as the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, Sophia University in Tokyo, and The New School.

She has scripted for comics such as The Amazing Spider-Man Family, The Powerpuff Girls, and Simpsons Comics. 

Her graphic novel Dolltopia won a Bronze International Manga Award and a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award. She is the author of the acclaimed coming-out story Tough Love: High School Confidential, originally published in XY Magazine.

Her popular blog The City Sweet Tooth (at citysweettooth.com) is an online tour of New York’s best bakeries, cafés, pastry shops, and other sweets purveyors.

Her latest book, Cool Japan Guide, is a fully-illustrated guide to traveling in Japan.

Learn more at her official website, abbycomix.com