YA Comics and Graphic Novels (Mikaela's picks)

We love comics and graphic novels of all stripes. Here is a list, lovingly hand-picked by Mikaela from Johnsonville Library, of some great graphical works, from the popular and well-known to the lesser-known-but-still-amazing.

Updated June 19, 2024
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Miles Morales [1] : straight out of Brooklyn
Ahmed, Saladin
Paper Book
Miles Morales swings back into the spotlight! Balancing a normal life, school, friends, family and super-heroing has never been easy for Miles, but when the rampaging Rhino and a cadre of mysterious criminals start plaguing Brooklyn, things take a dark turn for the young Spider-Man! And Miles doesn...
Frontera
Anta, Julio
Paper Book
Mateo makes the dangerous journey back home to the United States through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo in a supernatural borderland odyssey by debut graphic novelists Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo. As long as he remembers to stay...
Project Nought
Furedi, Chelsey
Paper Book
For fans of Kiss Number 8 and On a Sunbeam, this debut graphic novel is a fast-paced time travel adventure with a hint of romance that has garnered 1.5 million views as a Tapas webcomic. Ren Mittal's last memory in the year 1996 is getting on a bus to visit his mystery...
Teen Titans : Raven
Garcia, Kami
Paper Book
Amulet. Book one, The stonekeeper
Kibuishi, Kazu
Paper Book
The beginning of Kazu Kibuishi's #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series!After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature...
A map to the sun
Leong, Sloane
Paper Book
A Map to the Sun is a gripping YA graphic novel about five principle players in a struggling girls' basketball team. One summer day, Ren meets Luna at a beachside basketball court and a friendship is born. But when Luna moves to back to Oahu, Ren's messages to her friend go...
Stephen McCranie's Space Boy. Volume 1
McCranie, Stephen
Paper Book
To Amy, everyone has a flavour. Her mum is the flavour of mint-sharp and bright. Her dad is like hot chocolate - sweet and full of gentle warmth. Amy lives on a mining colony out in deep space, but when her dad loses his job the entire family is forced to move back to Earth. When Amy arrives on...
Danger and other unknown risks
North, Ryan
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2024 EISNER AWARD FOR BEST PUBLICATION FOR TEENS "Easily my favorite book of the year." -Tillie Walden, Eisner Award-winning creator of Spinning A twisty, spellbinding adventure about a girl and her dog who want to save the world, Danger and Other...
Heartstopper. Volume 1
Oseman, Alice
Paper Book
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This edition features beautiful two-color artwork. Now streaming on Netflix! Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to...
The witch boy
Ostertag, Molly
Paper Book
From the illustrator of the web comic Strong Female Protagonist comes a debut middle-grade graphic novel about family, identity, courage -- and magic.In thirteen-year-old Aster's family, all the girls are raised to be witches, while boys grow up to be shapeshifters. Anyone who dares cross...
Witchy. 1
Ries, Ariel Slamet
Paper Book
Winner of the 2020 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Online Comic 2020 Gold Ledger Award Recipient Danish "Pingprisen" for Best Online Series in 2017 and 2018 Nominee 2016 DINKy for Outstanding Web Comic Nominee In the witch kingdom Hyalin, the strength of...
Persepolis
Satrapi, Marjane
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable Book A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year” A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best-seller Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in...
Squire
Shammas, Nadia
Paper Book
From two incredible rising talents comes the fantasy graphic novel Molly Knox Ostertag calls "instantly compelling." A New England Book Award and Harvey Award winner! Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It's the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt...
The complete Maus
Spiegelman, Art
Paper Book
The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as "the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust" (Wall Street Journal) and "the first masterpiece in comic book history" (The New Yorker) * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * One of Variety's "Banned and...
Nimona
Stevenson, ND
Paper Book
Now a Netflix animated film! Nimona is the New York Times bestselling graphic novel sensation from ND Stevenson, based on his beloved and critically acclaimed web comic. Kirkus says, "If you're going to read one graphic novel this year, make it this one." Nemeses! Dragons! Science!...
Firebird
Sunmi
Paper Book
Sunmi's gorgeous two-color teen graphic novel debut examines the power of resilience and reinvention, following the lives of Caroline and Kim, two queer, Asian American teenagers growing up in the suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area, as they forge an unexpected connection. ...
Laura Dean keeps breaking up with me
Tamaki, Mariko
Paper Book
One of FORBES Best Graphic Novels of 2019 On BCCB 2019 Blue Ribbons List One of NPR's Best Books of 2019 Booklist 2019 Editors' Choice One of Bitch Media's Best Queer YA Novels of 2019 Author Mariko Tamaki and...
Drama
Telgemeier, Raina.
Paper Book
From Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile and Sisters!Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon over Mississippi, she can't really sing. Instead she's...
Cosmoknights. Book one
Templer, Hannah
Paper Book
For this ragtag band of space gays, liberation means beating the patriarchy at its own game. Pan's life used to be very small. Work in her dad's body shop, sneak out with her friend Tara to go dancing, and watch the skies for freighter ships. It didn't even matter that Tara was a...
Squad
Tokuda-Hall, Maggie
Paper Book
An IndieBound Bestseller "Squad is a fast-paced and feminist horror story for every girl who's ever felt like prey, and asks how far a girl should go to hunt the hunters."--Laura Ruby, author of National Book Award Finalist Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All "Squad is a story...
The magic fish
Trung, Le Nguyen
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by the New York Public Library.Kirkus Reviews.Booklist.Publishers Weekly Tiến loves his family and his friends...but Tiến has a secret he's been keeping from them, and it might change everything. An amazing YA...
Wynd. Book one, The flight of the prince
Tynion, James, IV
Paper Book
The team of award-winning superstars James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas present the first graphic novel in the all-new fantasy epic about a boy who must embrace the magic within himself if he wants to save his friends from the shocking dangers that await!   TO...
On a sunbeam
Walden, Tillie
Paper Book
"Tillie Walden is the future of comics, and On a Sunbeam is her best work yet. It's a 'space' story unlike any you've ever read, with a rich, lived-in universe of complex characters." --Brian K. Vaughan, Saga and Paper Girls Two timelines. Second chances....
The prince and the dressmaker
Wang, Jen
Paper Book
A fairy tale for any age, Jen Wang's The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart. Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens Winner of the Harvey Award for Best Children or Young Adult Book Paris, at the...
Ms. Marvel [1] : no normal
Wilson, G. Willow
Paper Book
Marvel Comics presents the all-new Ms. Marvel, the ground breaking heroine that has become an international sensation! Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City until she is suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the all-new Ms. Marvel? Find out as she takes the Marvel...
The well
Wyatt, Jacob
Paper Book
A 2023 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection A fantasy graphic novel about Lizzy, a girl who gets cursed by a wishing well, and her adventure to grant three wishes in order to break free. Li-Zhen's life on the archipelago is simple. Known to friends...
American born Chinese
Yang, Gene Luen.
Paper Book
Original Series Now Available on Disney+ A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to...

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