2023 Gift Guide: Graphic Novels for Kids & Teens
December 1, 2023 § Leave a comment
The fifth installment of the Gift Guide is packed with graphic novels! I’ve got some terrific selects for you, both fiction and non-fiction, including some for kids and some for teens. Nearly all are new this fall! As was the case with my middle-grade installment, I gave a lot of thought to things with ultra-kid appeal that still felt original or meaty or really, really beautiful.
Please note that I never include sequels in these lists, and this fall has seen some awesome new titles in favorite series, including The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom, Above the Trenches (the latest in one of my kids’ favorite series, Hazardous Tales), and Huda F Cares? (sequel to the hilarious YA graphic novel, Huda F Are You?, a Gift Guide pick from a few years ago). Not to mention the new Cat Kid, just out…
These lists are not necessarily Best of the Year lists, either, because if they were I would include some of the graphic novels I covered in this year’s Summer Reading Guide (part one and part two) or Spring Break Round Up, exceptional titles that are beloved in our house, like Parachute Kids and Lo and Behold. It would include A First Time for Everything, which just won the National Book Award, and Sunshine, which just took home the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, because we love, love, love those.
All this is to say that it has been another banner year for graphic novels, and another year to remind ourselves that with their wide-ranging vocabulary, clever construction, complex characters, and truly incredible art, graphic novels are worth celebrating, not censoring. And with so many of today’s readers ga-ga over them, they’ll make some of the most popular gifts under the tree.
Presented in order of age, with teen titles towards the bottom.
For the “Captain Underpants” Crowd
Snot Goblins and Other Tasteless Tales
by Rob Kutner; art by David DeGrand
Ages 8-12
In the spirit of give the children what they want, I present a collection of absurdly macabre short stories abounding with gross-out humor and narrated by a giant disembodied mouth. Wait, don’t go! Parents, hear me out: written by Rob Kutner, an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer (for The Daily Show and Conan) and illustrated by David DeGrand, one of the artists behind iconic cartoons like Garfield and Spongebob, Snot Goblins and Other Tasteless Tales ensures young readers are in brilliantly clever hands.
Big Mouth has one job: to eat “the most horrible stories of all time,” digest them in his “special juices,” and then “spit ‘em right back into your eyeholes.” What would you do if your boogers tried to take over the world? If teen-girl ghosts unleashed an army of pooping cockroaches? If your new stepmom turned out to be more mummy than mommy? These are just a few of the questions Big Mouth poses in the stories he regales us with, never holding back his peanut gallery comments and throwing in a few history lessons (Egyptian “Why-Roglyphics!”) and recipes (plasmadoodle cookies!) along the way.
Is it classic literature? It is not. Is it outrageously funny? It is. And when it comes to getting kids excited about reading, it’s pure gold.
For the Eager Contestant
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library: The Graphic Novel
by Chris Grabenstein; illus. Douglas Holgate
Ages 8-12
Graphic novel adaptations are a dime a dozen these days, but few are better than the original. Well, I’m here to tell you: this one’s better. My kids were big fans of Chris Grabenstein’s original series, but mostly owing to the plot over the writing. And if a book has a super compelling plot—here, a Willy Wonka-style competition in the coolest library in the world—then I say, make it a graphic novel. Give it great pacing, enhance it with stellar art, and let that plot shine. So, yes, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library shines even brighter as a graphic novel.
“This is how Kyle Keeley got grounded for a week…” Find me a reader who can resist such an opener, with a red-haired boy tearing down the streets of Alexandriaville, Ohio, clutching a rubber chicken and breaking his parents’ basement window in an effort to beat his brothers to the finish line. That’s how we’re introduced to Kyle’s competitive streak, which is what motivates him to pen a winning essay that gets him selected for the opening night lock-in at the city’s schmancy new library, paid for by game designer and “eccentric bazillionaire,” Mr. Lemoncello. As the door locks behind Kyle and the other contestants, the clues start coming: for one night, the entire library is decked out as its own board game, with the players the pieces. The grand prize might be the chance to star in Lemoncello’s next holiday commercial, but every contestant will come away with proof that libraries aren’t just home to dusty old books, but places of great discoveries.
Douglas Holgate is the illustrator behind the Last Kids on Earth series, and his dynamic, brightly-colored cartoons are a perfect match for Grabenstein’s high-energy content. Mr. Lemoncello bursts into life on the page with his outlandish banana shoes, and the library becomes a character in itself, with its talking holograms, labyrinth layouts, and books upon books. Just remember: “The game is never over until it’s over.”
For the Superhero Fan
Marvel Super Stories: All-New Comics from All-Star Cartoonists
edited by John Jennings
Ages 8-12
You can’t do better for your superhero fan than Marvel Super Stories, a collection of fifteen original comics, penned by fifteen of the biggest and most diverse names in the kids comics industry. It’s the first middle-grade anthology of all-new comics ever licensed by Marvel Entertainment, with a new volume planned annually for a holiday tradition-in-the-making.
Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Black Panther, Squirrel Girl, Hawkeye, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk…each one of these superheroes (and more) stars in a fresh comic, prefaced by a short bio for those who might benefit from some basic background information. The comics are indisputably fun and funny in their own right, but what makes this collection notable, apart from the art which we’ll get to below, is that each story tackles a social issue of today, including racism, same-sex (super)relationships, and disability equity, giving each a fresh, Marvel spin.
Your kids will likely recognize many of the creators’ names, each of whom lends their own visual identity to the superhero at hand. The line-up includes Jerry Craft (Newbery medalist behind New Kid), Nathan Hale (Hazardous Tales), George O’Connor (The Olympians), Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), Maria Scrivan (Nat Enough), Ben Hatke (Mighty Jack), Gale Galligan (Baby-Sitters Club), and more. How cool for today’s kids to see how one genre can allow for such varied artistic styles and content!
For the Kid of Happily Ever After
Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Ordinary Fairy-Tale Life
by Emma Steinkellner
Ages 8-12
Let me guess: you’ve got a child who loves reading graphic novels, but you’d like to sneak in a bit more text? Nell of Gumbling, a diary-style graphic novel from the author behind the beloved series, The Okay Witch, fits that bill perfectly, packing a huge amount of (albeit tiny) text into pages of maps, “who’s who” diagrams, and traditional comics panels. In fact, your kiddo won’t even notice all the extra reading they’re doing, because they’ll be distracted by Emma Steinkellner’s exceptional world building, as she marries the perfectly ordinary ramblings of a twelve year old with a distinctly unordinary storybook setting.
Our precocious diary keeper, Nell (short for Lenore) Starkeeper, wants us to know that just because her life might look like a fairy tale, it doesn’t make being a tween any easier. I mean, yes, her dad runs a magic star farm and her best friend is a fairy and her second-best friend is as small as her thumb, but she still has scabby knees and a little sister who’s “a lot” and an arch-nemesis and no shortage of friendship drama owing to her propensity to blurt out everything she’s thinking. What’s more, a magical setting definitely doesn’t make up for the blow of being assigned to an apprenticeship in the town’s dungeon-like archives, alongside crusty Mrs. Birdneck.
What Nell doesn’t see coming is that buried in those dusty, dizzyingly color-coded archives is her chance to save her cozy, magical town from the Disney-like developers who’d like it for themselves.
For the Animal Protector
Saving H’Non: Chang and the Elephant
by Trang Nguyên & Jeet Zdūng
Ages 8-12
With pages that feel straight out of a field notebook, alongside breathlessly cinematic action sequences, Saving H’Non: Chang and the Elephant is one of the most exquisitely presented books of the year. Based on a true story and about a young conservationist who overcomes the odds to save and return an elephant to its natural habitat, it’s also one of the most moving. If the book looks familiar, it’s because its predecessor, Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear, was a Gift Guide pick back in 2021. Both titles are meant to be enjoyed as stand-alone stories, but I’ll admit that the new one actually surpasses the first with a deeper emotional arc. Don’t miss it, especially for fans of The One and Only Ivan and A Wolf Called Wander.
H’non is a sixty-year-old Asian elephant, stolen from her mother in the jungles of Vietnam at four years of age and forced to work at construction sites until she became too weak. When our young conservationist finds her, H’non is still living in captivity, giving rides to children at a theme park and suffering from a damaged spine and broken tail and leg. Chang recognizes the tragedy, not only for H’non and others like her, but for the fragile ecosystems that depend on elephants for survival. But she also recognizes that even with extensive research, planning, and passion, she’ll still need outside help if she’s going to free H’non, heal her, and give her the tools to survive in the wild.
Chang solicits another young animal lover named Wat, who hails from a long line of elephant keepers, to serve as H’non’s “mahout” and live by her side, working to restore her trust in humans. Chang does daily observations of the two and takes copious notes. But it turns out Chang has her own trust issues, and Wat’s flakiness makes her initially hesitant about how much responsibility to give him. As H’Non grows to love and trust both Chang and Wat, Chang learns an important lesson about the courage and vulnerability it takes to trust someone, especially after you’ve been hurt.
For the Change Maker
Drawn to Change the World: 16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists
by Emma Reynolds
Ages 8-12
One of the best things about today’s graphic novels is that they cover a wide span of genres, which means that if you have a kiddo who responds to this visual format, you can use it to get them reading in spaces they might otherwise avoid. Will my daughter read a text-heavy science book? Not a chance. Will she read (and love) a book like Drawn to Change the World, where a huge amount of science is served up via and alongside comics? Absolutely.
“We are often taught to think that our changing climate is the center of this global crisis, but it’s not: it’s the collapse of nature.” Matthew Shribman, the co-founder of AimHi Earth, whose mission is to ensure “nature” has a seat at every boardroom, political, and kitchen table, introduces Emma Reynolds’ collection of sixteen comics that profile young change makers from around the world, fighting to protect the planet and life on Earth. Among others, we meet Autumn Peltier, the Indigenous activist campaigning for clean water; Edmund Tarimo, who devises ways to turn plastic waste into building materials; and fan-favorite Greta Thurnberg, who wakes up the world with her famous speech at the World Economic Forum, “I am here to say, our house is on fire.” Each comic concludes with a spread that asks, “What are they doing now?”
Collections of biographies around a central theme are a dime a dozen. What sets this one apart is not only the comics format, but the fact that each comic is illustrated by a different artist, providing a rich and varied artistic experience that will keep kids turning the pages. The book’s extensive backmatter includes a glossary, timelines, interviews, and ideas for things we can do today for the future we want tomorrow.
For the Sister
Duel
by Jessixa Bagley; illus. Aaron Bagley
Ages 9-13
I’m claiming it: Jessixa Bagley and Aaron Bagley’s Duel is the Best Graphic Novel of the Year. On par with Jerry Craft’s New Kid (look out, Newbery committee), it has everything we want in a graphic novel: humor, heart, authenticity, beautiful art (including a print size that’s actually legible), and it’s brilliantly constructed, pulling structure and metaphor from the sport of fencing. It’s the story of two sisters who, literally and figuratively, are engaged in a duel. And it’s the story of how these sisters move through their own grief to find their way back to one another.
Ever since their dad died, Lucy has barely exchanged a civil word with her older sister, GiGi. Now, as Lucy begins sixth grade, she must navigate the same school halls as GiGi, the undisputed queen of eighth grade and rising captain of the school’s fencing team. As if the prospect of going to school under her perfect sister’s gaze isn’t bad enough, GiGi deliberately trips Lucy in the cafeteria on the first day of school. In her rage, Lucy challenges GiGi to a duel in the weeks ahead; after all, their dad taught Lucy to fence, too, even if she hasn’t stayed with it. The deal is this: if GiGi wins, Lucy will promise to stay out of her way; if Lucy wins, GiGi will stop teasing her once and for all. As tensions between the sisters escalate, Lucy enlists her best friend to help her dust off her fencing skills, while GiGi secretly frets that she’s not as good at fencing (or anything) as everyone thinks she is. Soon, the entire middle school is invested in the rivalry.
What Duel does so brilliantly is to show us the discrepancy between what the sisters think and what actually comes out of their mouth. Long before they do, we discover that underneath their jealousy and accusations and bitterness sits a fierce love and a shared grief, both of which will need to be expressed if either is to be crowned champion. A triumph!
For the Laugh Seeker
Mexikid
by Pedro Martín
Ages 10-14
The shock value inside all 315 pages of this graphic novel are going to hook even the most skeptical readers. And, parents, don’t fret: behind the pranks, potty humor, human remains, and one roadkill incident gone very, very wrong is a heart of gold. Pedro Martín’s Mexikid may be a coming-of-age memoir focused on the hilarious misadventures of a 1977 family road trip to Mexico, but it’s also a poignant meditation on family, cultural identity, and legacy. I snorted; I teared up; I marveled at the effective use of color in the awesome artwork; and then I told everyone in my family to read it.
Born in the US to parents from Mexico, Pedro/Peter has never felt like he entirely fits into either culture. He’s also not thrilled to be spending his summer driving 2,000 miles to Mexico in his family’s Winnebago—purchased on the cheap because the last owner died in it and it’s probably haunted—to retrieve his Mexican-Revolution-era Abuelito. But as the seventh of nine kids (!), he’s used to not having a say in anything. Besides, he might score some comics and plastic toys on the cheap (get ready to meet Little Peepee Man), certainly he’ll be allowed to consume more sugar than usual, and maybe Abuelito will regale him with tales of wartime heroics (if they can understand each other). If all else fails, Pedro can always drive his siblings crazy by blasting “Shipoopi” on repeat (Music Man fans, anyone?).
Like the best family vacations, amidst the sibling banter, parental eccentricities, old-people traditions, and diarrhea euphemisms, come unexpected moments of tenderness and closeness. As Pedro’s world view expands, so too does his appreciation for the life experiences of his parents and grandparents, including the way these experiences might redefine the kind of hero Pedro himself hopes to be (and maybe already is).
For the Diary Keeper
Cross My Heart and Never Lie
by Nora Dasnes; translated by Matt Bagguley
Ages 10-13
This diary-style graphic novel, the first in an award-winning duology originally published in Norwegian, exudes tween angst in the best of ways, as twelve-year-old Tuva considers what it means to be a teenager. With its oversized trim size, loose sketches, and handwritten-styled text reminiscent of the fan-favorite Heartstopper books, Cross My Heart and Never Lie is bookmaking at its finest.
Tuva has long been inseparable from her two best friends, but as seventh grade kicks off, it’s clear that things are not what they were. One bestie, Linnéa, has started wearing make-up and is obsessed with her new boyfriend, while the other, Bao, wants nothing more than to build forts in the bog during recess like they’ve always done. Tuva feels like she’s being asked to choose sides, but where does she fit? What makes someone cool? How do you know when you’re ready to date? What if Tuva actually has a crush on another girl? And what does all of this mean for the friendships she cherishes?
A tender, warmhearted exploration of social-emotional topics like popularity, reputation, coming out, homophobia, allyship, and changing friendships, with an authentic voice that has you rooting for her on every page.
For the Rabblerouser
Smash the Patriarchy!
by Marta Breen & Jenny Jordahl; translated by Siân Mackie
Ages 12+
‘Tis the year for Norwegian imports, and here’s another gem, this one a funny, vibrant primer on the global history of patriarchy and the track record of feminism to bust open the myth that men are superior to women. Smash the Patriarchy shames many of the culprits throughout history by name and then salutes more than 100 inspiring women—from Pharaoh Hatshepsut to Mary Wollstonecraft to Petra Herrera—who stood up to them. Plus, it throws in a diagram of a vagina and a naked Eve, so I think we can all agree that this is the fresh look at history our children (ahem, and their grown-ups) need.
The book traces patriarchy back to a rigorous debate between Plato and Aristotle, who held competing views of women’s place in society. It may have been a different world entirely had Plato’s views taken off, but it was Aristotle’s idea that woman is a “natural handicap” that paved the way for the domesticity of girls and women for hundreds of years. But women have always found ways to push back against this exclusion from public life and academia, including hosting literary and political saloons in the home, writing under pseudonyms, and dressing as men.
The book does a bang-up job of explaining “the male gaze.” It explores the cult of virginity as it pertains to things like slut-shaming. And even women’s roles in films throughout history are shown to be proof of larger themes of subservience. An effective collection of talking points that amount to a fervent and optimistic rallying cry: the time is now.
For the Cheese Head
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
by Deya Muniz
Ages 12+
With fabulous fashion and an abundance of cheese puns, this queer fairy tale by Brazilian-born Deya Muniz has already become something for a cult favorite amongst the young teen set. (Might I suggest gifting The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Smashing the Patriarchy? The two would be brilliant in conversation with one another.)
The law dictates that family fortunes cannot be passed down to women, so before Lady Camembert is forced to enter a loveless marriage, she does the only thing she can think of to continue living life on her own terms: she disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city in the kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert. But it’s hard to stay under the radar when you find yourself continually drawn into the orbit of the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and high fashion.
Teens will love the drama surrounding mistaken identities and true love alllllmost as much as they love a really good grilled cheese sandwich.
For the STEM Obsessed
Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day
by Dan Nott
Ages 12+
If you’ve got a mechanical engineer in the making, or simply a teen with a proclivity for curiosity about things they can’t see, Hidden Systems was recently long-listed for the National Book Award and for good reason: it feels like a modern reboot of David Macaulay’s The Way Things Work, with elegant comics, approachable metaphors, and an activist bent. And if you want a more personal endorsement: I live with an engineering major and a wannabe rocket scientist and this book was gobbled up.
Water, electricity, and the internet: we use these systems every day, but most of us don’t know when and why they were built, how they work, or what’s the plan to keep them running in the future. Acclaimed teacher and artist Dan Nott puts this modern infrastructure on centerstage to delve into the mechanics of how these systems work, while also picking apart their inherent inequalities to explore how we might rethink their designs going forward.
The minimalness of Nott’s artwork, underscored by a mostly blue palette and the use of symbols defined at the beginning of the book, brings our attention to the beauty of these systems that do so much heavy lifting.
For the Stereotypes Buster
Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy
by Faith Erin Hicks
Ages 14+
Oh my heart, I adore this book (as do my teen daughter and son), which explodes gender stereotypes to deliver a sweetly satisfying friendship-turned-romance story. Some of you might recall Faith Erin Hicks’ upper middle-grade graphic novel, Ride On, which made an appearance on last year’s Gift Guide. Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy is aimed at a slightly older crowd, but it offers similarly authentic, richly-spun characters.
Alix is a phenom on the hockey rink—hers is the top-ranked team in British Columbia—but off the ice she’s a “black hole of awkward.” At least, that’s how her mean-girl team captain, Lindsay, describes her, right before Alix loses it and punches Lindsay in the face. Now, her promising hockey future could be in jeopardy if she can’t acquire some anger management skills—and fast. But how do you “handle jerks being jerks” without “going to some scary place that frightens you?” When Alix observes one of the theater kids at school put a homophobic bully in his place using swag and humor, she asks him for advice.
Alix and Ezra strike up a fast friendship, as Ezra shows Alix the ropes of his family’s thrift business and Alix convinces Ezra to get on skates. As they share more about their pasts, it becomes clear that Alix isn’t nearly as awkward as she worries she is, and that there’s much more to Ezra than the cool-cucumber front he puts on. He’s also not gay, as Alix and most of the kids at their school have long assumed. Can Alix find a way to stand up to the Lindsays of the world while also handling her first kiss?
(Because inquiring minds will ask, there is no sexual content beyond kissing. The 14+ age range mainly refers to some language and a brief flashback scene with domestic violence, but I was very happy to let my 13yo daughter read it.)
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