Get Graphic graphic novel list - Chicago Public Library

For Teens

Get Graphic! - Graphic Novels

If you’re looking from some great graphic novels, let teens from Chicago Public Library’s Teen Advisory Council and staff from Chicago Public Library’s Teen Literacy Committee give you some suggestions!

Quicklinks: Recommended Books | Other Suggested Titles

Recommended Books

Amiri & Odette: A Love Story
By Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
Recommended by Angela, age 16
A young man searches for his new love among the rough city streets, to find that she's been caught in the arms of an awful street lord whose intent is to cause her pain. Because of her determination and hope that her love will come, she is returned to the safety of her one true love. Poetic text and splendid mixed media artwork make for a beautiful retelling of Swan Lake.

Anya’s Ghost
By Vera Brosgol
Recommended by Katie, Teen Volume Project Assistant
Anya is uncomfortable in her own skin, ignored by most of her classmates, and embarrassed by her family. Feeling sorry for herself, she trips and falls into a well, and meets a new friend . . . who’s been dead for almost a century. Anya quickly learns the benefit of having a ghost for a BFF, but it turns out her ghost is more than Anya expected . . .

Freshman: Tales of 9th Grade Obsessions, Revelations, and Other Nonsense
By Corinne Mucha
Recommended by Victoria, 14
What happens when your best friend turns Goth; you land the role of a cranky, hunched over, depressed lady in the school play; and you find out that you really aren’t that good at playing field hockey? Find out as you follow Annie through the rocky and unexpected road of her first year of high school. Meet Corinne Mucha and create your own comic.

Heart Transplant
By Andrew Vachss and Frank T. Caruso with an essay by Zak Mucha, LCSW
Recommended by Araceli, 16
Movies pour glitter all over reality and Sean is sick of it. He lives in the real world where raw pain has been a given from the beginning from detrimental bullies to a thoughtless mother and her drunken, abusive boyfriend. From a young age, Sean learned to never let anyone see him hurt, when will he receive the support he needs to learn to stand up for himself and fight back against the world that has been so cruel to him? Attend a program with Zak Mucha.

Maus
By Art Spiegelman
Recommended by Viktor, 17
Through the awesome writing and creative images, this personal story really gives an interesting, and in-depth look at the Holocaust without being distracted by too much history or sadness, it's still a graphic novel without being too graphic. As the only "comic" to ever win a Pulitzer, it truly deserves it. This wonderful historical narrative uses animals instead of people (German Nazi's are represented by cats, Jews by mice, and Poles by pigs) to tell the story of the author’s father, Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived the horrors of the Holocaust. The story shows you the wonderful pre-war life Vladek lived and then switches back and forth from past to present, from bad to worse. A cliff-hanging ending leads you to the next book.

Maus II
By Art Spiegelman
Recommended by Viktor, 17
This book must be read right after the first, for fear of forgetting even one detail of Anja and Vladek's struggle, as the second book starts off where the last one ended. This heart wrenching tale continues and keeps you on edge as there is the never-ending threat of death. The story alternates between the terror in Poland and the relationship between the author and his father, Vladek. This book also won the Pulitzer – a truly deserved award.

Level Up
By Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Thien Pham
Recommended by Jeremy, Teen Literacy Committee
Dennis Ouyang’s strict parents want him to go to medical school, not waste his time video gaming. Then Dennis’ father dies and four adorably pushy little angels appear and try to redirect his life. Will listening to these strange visitors lead him to the life others want for him or towards the next level of happiness?

My Boyfriend is a Monster #1: I Love Him to Pieces
By Evonne Tsang, illustrated by Janina Görrissen
Recommended by Jeremy, Teen Literacy Committee
Opposites attract when “girly jock” Dicey Bell and “brainy, science nerd” Jack Chen are paired up on a school project, but can their budding romance survive what may be the zombie apocalypse? Other titles in the series include: I Date Dead People, Made for Each Other, My Boyfriend Bites and Under His Spell.

Page by Paige
By Laura Lee Gulledge
Recommended by Jeremy, Teen Literacy Committee
Will recent transfer Paige Turner ever feel confident enough to show the new friends she’s made at her New York City high school the cool, confident version of herself she’s drawn in the pages of her sketchbook?

The Plain Janes
By Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
Recommended by Victoria, 14
Meet the Plain Janes. Five girls named “Jane” who are as different as can be when it comes to personalities. The one thing they have in common is art. This leads them to form a secret group named P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods) that creates guerilla-like, artistic messages around their neighborhood. How will the town react?

The Pride of Baghdad
By Brian Vaughan, illustrated by Niko Henrichon
Recommended by Angela, 16
This fictionalized account of a true story revolves around the brief freedom experienced by a small pride of lions who escape from Baghdad Zoo after an American bombing in 2003. As the lions roam the streets trying to survive, each one comes to embody a different viewpoint regarding the Iraq War.

Skim
By Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
Recommended by Katie, Teen Volume Project Assistant
Kimberly Keiko Cameron -- aka “Skim” --, a Goth girl studying Wicca, feels trapped at her all-girl private school. When she falls in love with the wrong person, the drama she seeks to avoid leads her to an unexpected friendship.