Coming of age (YA comics)

Sometimes, important stuff happens. Sometimes, that stuff is important enough to make an impact on you, acting as a rite of passage. This stuff can be a single memorable moment, experiences with friends, family, at school, or just something singular and within ourselves.

When this happens in fiction, we call it 'coming of age'. All the comics in this list take effort to identify this 'stuff', make it real, and explain it, while taking us along on the same journey as the characters and hopefully revealing something more.

Updated August 1, 2024
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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Girl on fire
Keys, Alicia
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling author and 15-time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Alicia Keys comes a new authentic and poignant coming-of-age young adult graphic novel, about finding the strength within when your whole world changes in an instant. Lolo Wright always thought she was...
DPS only!
Kong, Xiao Tong
Paper Book
This captivating coming-of-age story set in the world of e-sports will have readers cheering for girl gamer Vicky Tan as she overcomes social anxiety, self-doubt, and an overprotective big brother to pursue her dream of becoming a competitive gamer. From the Tapas webcomic, a 2021 Eisner...
This one summer
Tamaki, Mariko
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller A 2015 Caldecott Honor Book A 2015 Michael L. Printz Honor Book An Eisner Award Winner Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always...
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...
Hollow
Watters, Shannon
Paper Book
Sleepy Hollow and queer romance meet in this coming-of-age tale from the co-creator of Lumberjanes! Isabel "Izzy" Crane and her family have just relocated to Sleepy Hollow, the town made famous by--and obsessed with--Washington Irving's legend of the Headless...
Hungry ghost
Ying, Victoria
Paper Book
A beautiful and heart-wrenching young adult graphic novel takes a look at eating disorders, family dynamics, and ultimately, a journey to self-love. Valerie Chu is quiet, studious, and above all, thin. No one, not even her best friend Jordan, knows that she has been binging and...

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