Kader's Quest

Middle school student Kader is on the precipice of the turbulent path to adulthood. Join him on this journey of discovery and healing through dazzling art replete with puzzles, hidden images, symbolism, reflection and silence. Award-winning artist Nadir Balan brings this deeply human story to life with stunning illustrations that invite readers to feel every emotion alongside Kader as he uncovers his past and searches for belonging. Written by psychiatrist Dr. Yener Balan and psychotherapist Duygu Balan, this graphic novel embraces raw vulnerability and authentic experiences, creating a story that feels real, digestible, and powerfully relatable. Kader's Quest offers behavioral health specialists an invaluable therapeutic tool that resonates with young adults facing similar struggles with family dynamics, anxiety, friendship, bullies, and major life transitions. The carefully crafted narrative allows readers to process their own complex emotions through Kader's journey, helping them feel seen in their experiences. For professionals working with teens who struggle to articulate their feelings, this graphic novel provides a meaningful conversation starter grounded in evidence-based principles, making it a compelling read and a powerful clinical resource.

Table of Contents:
The story is of a young boy on a journey of discovering his identity, making peace with his family and beginning to heal from his anxiety. The backstory is his mother got pregnant at an early age, gave him to his paternal grandmother who raised him as his mother. He never met his bio mother, and always thought his bio father was an uncle away at college. The plot evolves as the boy discovers his caregiver is not his mother, as she is dying of an illness. This is within the setting of him becoming a teenager, and also being introduced to and having to live with his father for the first time. The narrative continues with the boy beginning mental health therapy, and recreating dynamics with his father, exploring his place in the world as he realizes he has no real parental figure. The boy’s desire for connection, anxieties of not having a container of a home, and search for belonging are complicated with issues of being bullied on social media and at school. The journey concludes as he learns to forgive, creates his own narrative, and allows his own healing to begin.

About the Author :
ILLUSTRATOR: Nadir Balan is an award-winning illustrator who has been working in the field for two decades. He learned the ropes at Marvel in 2002 and has since worked on a large variety of projects in many genres. He worked with Ray Harryhausen to relaunch the movie franchise ‘Clash of the Titans’ and ‘Wrath of the Titans.’ With Stan Lee and William Shatner, he won ‘Outstanding Book of The Year’ for his work on ‘God Woke.’ In addition to his art being featured in galleries, his paintings are in the permanent collection of the New Haven Museum where, as an avid history buff, gave lectures on painting techniques and World War I. His work has graced the covers of scientific and academic books ranging from medical to philosophical to theatrical. He recently worked on all three volumes of Dan Folger’s ‘Moon Lake’ and his comic book work is featured in Heavy Metal Magazine. In addition to illustrating the cover of the bestselling Big Book of Emergency Department Psychiatry: A Guide to Patient Centered Operational Improvement, CRC Press 2018, he also illustrated the cover and interior of the medical textbook Re-Write: A Trauma Workbook of Creative Writing and Recovery in our New Normal, Routledge 2023. A true renaissance man, in his spare time Nadir moonlights as the Operations Director at an Ivy League university theatre. Whatever time he finds left he spends helping animals. Yener Balan, MD, DFAPA is a board-certified psychiatrist and is currently the Vice President of Behavioral Health and Specialty Services for Kaiser Permanente, Northern California. He provides health plan oversight and direction to the NCAL Behavioral Health Program and Specialty Services as they develop an integrated model of 21st century health care – investing in technology, people and research to drive market leading performance; engaging members and families in quality improvement efforts; implementing processes that focus on proactive intervention and prevention; and engaging with organizations in the community to help shape the growth, education, and training of the behavioral health and specialty services workforce. Yener received his medical degree from Albany Medical College and completed his residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He has been recognized as a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Yener is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Executive Leadership Program and serves on the board of directors for Health Right 360. Yener has extensive years of experience working in high volume emergency departments, is an expert on hospital operations, healthcare business and management, and has given lectures and workshops worldwide. He is the bestselling author of the Big Book of Emergency Department Psychiatry: A Guide to Patient Centered Operational Improvement, CRC Press 2018, and his follow-up medical textbook Re-Write: A Trauma Workbook of Creative Writing and Recovery in our New Normal, Routledge 2023. Duygu Balan, LPCC, LMHC, MS Ed, CCTP is a psychotherapist and certified trauma professional, and for over a decade has cared for individuals and couples dealing with childhood trauma, attachment injuries and grief. Duygu has extensive background in writing, studied at the Gotham Writers Workshop and Nina LaCour’s The Slow Novel Lab. She has contributed to the bestselling medical textbook Big Book of Emergency Department Psychiatry, CRC Press 2018, and authored her debut medical textbook Re-Write: A Trauma Workbook of Creative Writing and Recovery in our New Normal, Routledge 2023.