Teen Graphic Novels

To go along with my presentation, here is an annotated list of recommend graphic novels for teens. The list has been split into two, the first half being graphic novels I think should be classified as teen materials, the second half consisting of adult graphic novels that might appeal to some teens.

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. It is reflective of my graphic novel reading habits, so I invite everyone to put their teen graphic novel picks in the comments.

* = available at the London Public Library

Teen Graphic Novels

*Abadzis, Nick - Laika

Abadzis tells the story of the first dog to go into space as part of the USSR's Sputnik program.

Abouet, Marguerite - Aya and Aya of Yop City

Both books look into the lives of Aya and her friends, Adjoua and Bintou, as they grow up in the Ivory Coast during the 1970s.

*Arnoldi, Katherine - The Amazing "True" Story of a Teenage Single Mom

Arnoldi recounts her personal struggles of being a teenage mother while not giving up on her dream of going to university.

*Brown, Chester - I Never Liked You

Originally published in 1994, I Never Liked You finds Brown looking back through his adolescence, telling of the girl he liked and the one who liked him.

*Clowes, Daniel - Ghost World

The odd friendship of Enid and Rebecca becomes fraught as they deal with the pressures of life after high school.

*Kim, Derek Kirk - Good as Lily

For her 18th birthday, Grace gets visited by her past and future selves as she struggles to grow up and find her place in life.

*Lat - Kampung Boy and Town Boy

Lat's wonderful tales of growing up and causing mischief in 1950s and 60s Malaysia manage to be both humourous and endearing. While the location is foreign, the stories have a universal quality, aided by Lat's wonderful artwork.

O'Malley, Bryan Lee - Scott Pilgrim (series)

Scott Pilgrim must defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of Ramona Flowers, while also playing bass in Sex Bob-omb. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Michael Cera.

O'Malley, Bryan Lee - Lost at Sea

Raleigh just left the love of her life in California and is travelling back home with three people from her high school that she barely knows. To make things worse, she thinks her soul is in a cat.

*Rabagliati, Michel - Paul Has a Summer Job

Fresh from quitting high school, Paul becomes a summer camp councillor, falls in love and learns important life lessons. Anything by Rabagliati deserves reading, but not all would appeal to teens.

*Smith, Jeff - Bone (series)

A comic classic, the Bone series tells of the travels of Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone as they try to get back to Boneville. Can appeal to all ages, from children to adults.

*Tamaki, Mariko - Skim

Kimberly, aka "Skim," is an angsty teen who falls in love with her English teacher, Ms. Archer. Struggling to find her place in the world, she gets fascinated by everything Wicca, as well as Katie, who is also dealing with her own issues.

*Yang, Gene Luen - American Born Chinese

Winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz award for excellence in young adult literature, American Born Chinese blends three seemingly disparate stories that deal with the themes of race and self-identification.

Adult Graphic Novels For Teens


*Bechdel, Alison - Fun Home

Fun Home weaves around the life of Bechdel as she deals with the death (or should I say suicide?) of her closeted father, at the same time that she is coming into terms with her own homosexuality. Seeking answers and closure, she evaluates her relationship with her father through this new framework.


*Burns, Charles - Black Hole

Told in stark black-and-white, Black Hole takes places in the 1970s and is about an STD that ravages a high school, mutating the bodies of those infected.

Delisle, Guy - Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea

A 2006 YALSA pick, this graphic novel is an account of Delisle's time in North Korea while overseeing a French animation project that has been outsourced. Caught off from the outside world, Delisle tries to understand the mind frame of his North Korean guides. His other works, Shenzhen: A Travelogue From China and The Burma Chronicles, are also excellent reads.

*Lemire, Jeff - Essex County, vol. 1: Tales From the Farm

10 year-old Lester is living with his uncle after the death of his mother. He escapes to a fantasy world with the help of an ex-hockey player who was never the same after one big hit.

*Miller, Frank - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Miller's Dark Knight reinvigorated the Batman franchise (and, arguably, comics themselves), creating a dark, menacing caped crusader.

*Moore, Alan - Watchmen

Who watches the Watchmen? When most superheroes have retired, who will save the world from nuclear war? Moore's tale of morality and justice still is revered as one of the greatest graphic novels ever and its political warnings still ring true.

*Spiegelman, Art - Maus (2 vol.)

Winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize, Maus is a stunning retelling of the Holocaust as experienced by Spiegelman's father, where the Jews are mice and the Germans are cats. As he writes Maus, Spiegelman includes his present-day relationship with his father, looking at how the time in concentration camps has affected his father and, in turn, their relationship.