5 Graphic Novels Teens Should Read
5. Skyward
Skyward is such a fun, crazy adventure with a concept I have not seen explored before. What if one day all of the gravity on earth just went away? Ok, not all of it, but most of it. This story follows Willa Fowler a young woman who lives in the strange almost post-apocalyptical world 20 years after G-day. People fly around to get from place to place and Willa loves it, until she uncovered her father’s secret plot to bring the gravity back. And also someone is trying to kill her.
This art by Lee Garbett is beautiful and really brings this strange world to life. The story touches on things I would have never thought of, what would happen during a storm? How would livestock farms survive? And what if you lived out in the country where you couldn’t grab a hold of wires and buildings to keep you from heading forever skyward?
4. The Graveyard Book
The Graveyard Book, adapted from the novel by Neil Gaiman, is a crazy story about an orphaned boy named Nobody (Bod for short) adopted by a lovely older couple … of ghosts. He’s raised in a Graveyard with all of the creatures that go bump in the night. Eventually he gets old enough that it’s time to leave the safety of the Graveyard but to survive on the outside he must first try to solve the mystery of his murdered parents.
This graphic novel would have been right up my alley when I was a teen. My favorite tv shows were The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer so I loved everything supernatural. the Graveyard Book has all of the typical supernatural creatures, but looks at them in a much different light than I was used to.
3. Speak
Speak, also adapted from a novel, this one by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about Melinda as she starts her first year of high school. As if high school isn’t hard enough, everyone hates her for breaking up a party during the summer by calling the cops. Because she’s ostracized, she has no one to talk to about what happened to her that horrible night.
It’s a heart wrenching story about the importance of being able to speak, to talk to anyone who cares enough about her to listen. It also emphasized something that has always been really important in my life, how art can help some people deal with issues they can’t talk about.
2. Pride of Baghdad
I love Pride of Baghdad so much I wrote an entire post about it a couple months ago. The story is about a small pride of lions who escape from the Baghdad zoo after a bombing. The events are true, but the personification of the animals help the story examine multiple facets of war, why countries go to war and what happens to everyone touched by it. There are often conflicting perspectives, just like in real life, but writer Brian K. Vaughan, never tries to force the reader to think one perspective is better or worse than another.
Niko Henrichon’s illustrations are breath taking, visceral and stomach turning at times. I would probably recommend this graphic novel to the older teens as opposed to the younger, just because of some of the topics covered. But it is an amazing first step to understanding our history and what war really means.
1. Nimona
Nimona is actually on my “Brittni’s Top 5 Graphic Novels of all Time” list as well as my number one here. Perhaps it’s because I relate so much to Nimona, and did so even more as a teenager, that it is my most recommended YA graphic novel. I love it so much. The main character, Nimona, wants to team up with Ballister Blackheart, the biggest name in supervillainy against Sir Goldenloin and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. But Nimona is a bit heavy handed in her approach and Ballister doesn’t really want a sidekick. Nimona is a bit of a bull in a china shop and doesn’t follow any of the rules but she may just be the catalyst for uncovering a dark secret.
This story is full of action, adventure, comedy, and mystery but also a heartwarming story of figuring out who you are and who your people are. Sometimes, the best family is the found family.
