Recommended Graphic Novels for Summer Reading
Graphic novels are comic books published in book format. Some tell one complete story in a volume, some collect several comic book issues, others are translations from Japanese comics called manga. Comics are NOT only about superheroes; they tell stories from many genres meant for different age levels. Some comics are, indeed, GOOD kids' stuff. And most are KID PLEASERS.
Librarian Kat Kan grew up reading comics and has been enjoying them for more than fifty years. They were always part of the mix of reading materials at home. The following are titles she highly recommends for fun summer reading.
OLDER READERS, AGES 10 UP
HOPELESS SAVAGES GREATEST HITS VOLUME 1 by Jen Van Meter
Punk rockers Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage married and raised four children. Their youngest daughter Zero navigates her way through high school and first love as the family deals with a TV crew chronicling everything they do for a reality show.
NARUTO, VOL. 1 by Masashi Kishimoto
Orphaned Naruto has been raised by the people of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but most hate him because of the nine-tailed fox demon trapped inside him at his birth. He wants nothing more than to become the Hokage, the master ninja, and he’ll keep fighting against the odds to reach his goal.
NIGHTSCHOOL VOL. 1 by Svetlana Chmakova
Teenage Alex, a young weirn (a type of witch) enrolls in the Nightschool that takes over PS13W at night, when her older sister Sarah disappears from her job as the school’s gatekeeper.
THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT by Bryan Talbot
Helen Potter runs away from her London home because of her father’s sexual abuse. She takes all of her Beatrix Potter books and some markers, lives on the streets, but eventually finds her way to the Lake Districts where Beatrix Potter had lived, where Helen hopes to find peace.
USAGI YOJIMBO by Stan Sakai
These stories chronicle the adventures of masterless samurai Miyamoto Usagi, a warrior rabbit in an animal version of early Tokugawa Japan (17th century).
PAGETURNERS, AGES 8 UP
CITY OF SPIES by Susan Kim
Evelyn goes to live with her aunt in 1942 New York City, where she makes friends with the building superintendent’s son Tony, and the two of them find real intrigue and mystery.
DANIEL X: THE MANGA, VOL. 1 by James Patterson
This manga adaptation of Patterson’s novels featuring teenager Daniel, whose parents were murdered by an intergalactic criminal. Now Daniel becomes the Alien Hunter, and he swears to track down the galaxy’s most dangerous outlaws who are hiding out on Earth.
HIKARU NO GO by Yumi Hotta
The adventures of middle schooler Hikaru, a jock, who accidentally bonds with the ghost of an ancient Go master when he plays with an old Go board. Now Hikaru, channeling Fujiwara no Sai, begins to play the old board game like a master.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE by James Patterson
Rafe Khatchadorian decides to take on middle school by trying to break every single rule in the school handbook.
OUTLAW: THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD by Tony Lee
A straightforward, dramatic retelling of the Robin Hood legend, full of familiar characters and lots of swashbuckling action.
PRINCE OF TENNIS by Takeshi Konomi
Ryoma Echizen can’t just waltz into Seishun Academy and claim a spot on the school’s elite tennis team – or can he? He may be young, but he’s already a champion. This manga is full of tennis action.
RESISTANCE, BOOK 1 by Carla Jablonski
When their French village is occupied by Nazi troops, Paul and Marie try to help their Jewish friend escape; in doing so, they become part of the Resistance movement even though they’re just kids.
STORM IN THE BARN by Matt Phelan
In 1937, Kansas has suffered the long drought of the Dust Bowl, and eleven-year-old Jack feels helpless to prevent yet another crop failure until he notices something no one else does – the rain is hiding itself in a barn, refusing to help the people.
SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE EIGHTH GRADE by Landry Q. Walker
Supergirl Kara attends middle school, where her best friend turns out to be her worst enemy, and she has to contend with an evil mirror self as she waits for cousin Superman to find a way for her to return home.
WAR AT ELLSMERE by Faith Erin Hicks
Juniper (the scholarship project) attends a private boarding school, where she teams with her lonely roommate (nicknamed the Orphan) as they contend with school bullies and find out there’s more than meets the eye at their school.
ZEUS: KING OF THE GODS (THE OLYMPIANS, VOL. 1) by George O’Connor
O’Connor retells the myths about Zeus and the other gods of Olympus, treating them like superheroes.
TRANSITIONAL BOOKS, AGES 6 UP
ADVENTURES IN CARTOONING by James Sturm, et al.
This story of an eager knight and his adventures is also a how-to-make-cartoons book that skips the introductory stuff: if you can draw circles, squares, and triangles, you can draw all kinds of cartoons.
BABYMOUSE, QUEEN OF THE WORLD! by Jennifer L. and Matt Holm
Babymouse daydreams of being popular, beautiful, and fashionable, while she hopes to be invited to Felicia’s party. This is the first of a popular, long running graphic novel series, illustrated in black, white, and pink.
BINKY THE SPACE CAT by Ashley Spires
Binky is not just a house cat, he protects his humans from aliens (insects), and is even willing to venture into outer space (the yard) to save his stuffed Mousie.
In a city populated by insects, Joey Fly runs a detective agency with his assistant Sammy Stingtail, a young scorpion. Grown-ups who read this with their children will recognize all the tropes of film noir.
The star of the popular chapter books now has his own graphic novel series. In this volume Geronimo and his friends go back in time to stop the nefarious pirate cats from changing history by preventing Columbus from discovering America.
HAMSTER AND CHEESE (GUINEA PIG, PET SHOP PRIVATE EYE #1) by Colleen A. F. Venable
Sasspants the guinea pig lives in befuddled Mr. Venezi’s pet shop, and reluctantly investigates the mystery of who is stealing the pet shop owner’s sandwiches.
THE LEGEND OF OLD SALTY (SALT WATER TAFFY VOL. 1) by Matthew Loux
A family summer vacation in Chowder Bay, Maine seems totally lame to Jack and Benny, but the fun picks up when the boys decide to hunt for Old Salty, a legendary, huge lobster.
This first volume of the Bone series chronicles the adventures of cousins Fone, Smiley, and Phoney Bone, who arrive in Barrelhaven, encountering stupid rat creatures, a mysterious Hooded One, the beautiful Thorn and her irascible Gran’ma Ben.
When Emily and Navin’s mother gets dragged away by a monster, the siblings pursue them and find themselves in a world of magic and danger, and face-to-face with a family secret.
T-MINUS: THE RACE TO THE MOON by Jim Ottaviani
This nonfiction graphic novel reads like a thriller, portraying both sides of the U.S./Soviet Union space race from the later 1940s to the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
Imagine all the DC superhero sidekicks as little kids attending elementary school. The stories feature Robin, Batgirl, Starfire, and many others as never seen before
THE WHOLE WORLD’S CRAZY (AMELIA RULES! VOL. 1) by Jimmy Gownley
When Amelia and her divorced mom move to a small town to live with Aunt Tanner (a retired rock star), Amelia manages to make new friends; but on her first day of school, she learns that she is now part of the nerd crew.
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, FOR AGES 0-8
BENNY AND PENNY IN JUST PRETEND by Geoffrey Hayes
Older brother Benny doesn’t want to play with little sister Penny. This is first of a series. Hayes won the 2010 Theodor Geisel Award for best beginning reader, for Benny and Penny and the Big No-No.
DRAGON PUNCHER by James Kochalka
The heroic Dragon Puncher, a cat wearing a giant fighting robot suit, deals with the snake-like Dragon. Kochalka uses photographic faces of himself (as the dragon), his son (Dragon Puncher’s sidekick), and the family cat.
JACK AND THE BOX by Art Spiegelman
Jack receives a Jack in the box for a present, but Zack, inside the box, keeps Jack guessing what’s going to happen.
JOHNNY BOO: THE BEST LITTLE GHOST IN THE WORLD by James Kochalka
Little boy ghost Johnny Boo and his ghostly pet Squiggle encounter the Ice Cream Monster.
LITTLE MOUSE GETS READY by Jeff Smith
Little Mouse gets dressed to go to the barn in this 2010 Theodor Geisel Honor Book.
LUKE ON THE LOOSE by Harry Bliss
Young Luke chases the pigeons in an exuberant tour of New York City.
SILLY LILLY AND THE FOUR SEASONS by Agnes Rosenstiehl
Little Lilly plays different games through the four seasons of the year.
STINKY by Eleanor Davis
Swamp monster Stinky tries to find a way to chase the nasty human boy away from his home.
THE WAY HOME AND THE BITTERSWEET SUMMER (OWLY, VOL. 1) by Andy Runton
Little round Owly is lonely, until he meets Wormy and they become best friends in this mostly-wordless book, ideal for pre-readers.
ZIG AND WIKKI IN SOMETHING ATE MY HOMEWORK by Nadja Spiegelman
Young aliens Zig and Wikki come to Earth in search of something they can capture for their homework.