Great Graphic Novels
NOTE: “Graphic novels” are high-quality, developed stories that you can truly read like a regular “novel.” They are much different than brief comic strips, like Calvin & Hobbes - which are meant to be entertaining, but not "literary." This list highlights the very best fiction and nonfiction graphic novels in the LMC by genre.
**Most graphic novels have a Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5, but are located in a separate LMC section.**
Great Graphic Authors
Don Brown
Nathan Hale
Shannon Hale
Ben Hatke
Faith Erin Hicks
Victoria Jamieson
Hope Larson
Matt Phelan
Noelle Stevenson
Raina Telgemeier
Doug TenNapel
Gene Luen Yang
Fantasy & Adventure
Amulet #1: The Stonekeeper [series] - Kazu Kibuishi
Bad Island - Doug TenNapel
Compass South - Hope Larson
The Nameless City - Faith Erin Hicks
Newsprints - Ru Xu
Nimona - Noelle Stevenson
Fairy Tale, Myth, & Legend Adaptations
Baba Yaga’s Assistant - Marika McCool
Fish Girl - Donna Jo Napoli & David Wiesner
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword - Barry Deutsch
Mighty Jack - Ben Hatke
Olympians Greek Myths [series] - George O’Connor
Rapunzel’s Revenge - Shannon Hale
Graphic Classics & Adaptations
Adaptor’s Name, [Original Author]
Black Beauty - June Brigman [Anna Sewell]
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Bowen & Ruiz [Jules Verne]
The Red Pyramid - Orpheus Collar [Rick Riordan]
A Wrinkle in Time - Hope Larson [Madeleine L’Engle]
Realistic Stories
All’s Faire in Middle School - Victoria Jamieson
Awkward - Svetlana Chmakova
The Babysitter’s Club [series] - Raina Telgemeier, multiple authors
Drama - Raina Telgemeier
Real Friends - Shannon Hale
Roller Girl - Victoria Jamieson
Smile - Raina Telgemeier
Sunny Side Up - Jennifer L. Holm
Swing It, Sunny - Jennifer L. Holm
Historical Stories
Bluffton - Matt Phelan
A Family Secret - Matt Heuvel
Gaijin: American Prisoner of War - Matt Faulkner
Laika - Nick Abadzis
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales [series] - Nathan Hale
The Search - Matt Heuvel
The Storm in the Barn - Matt Phelan
Mysteries & Thrillers
I Am Princess X - Cherie Priest
Salt Water Taffy - Matthew Loux
Secret Coders - Gene Luen Yang
Nonfiction & Biographical Graphic Novels
NOTE: Located with the rest of the graphic novels!
Child Soldier: When Boys & Girls Are Used in War - Jessica Dee Humphreys
Death Camp Uprising: The Escape from Sobibor Concentration Camp - Nel Yomtov
Dogs of War - Sheila Keenan & Matt Fox
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans - Don Brown
El Deafo - CeCe Bell
The Great American Dust Bowl - Don Brown
Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust - Loïc Dauvillier
March [3 volumes] - Congressman John Lewis
Maus - Art Spiegelman
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales [series] - Nathan Hale
Native Princess: Sarah Winnemucca - Trina Robbins
Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas - Jim Ottaviani
Real Friends - Shannon Hale [graphic novel]
T-Minus - Jim Ottaviani
Science Fiction
Earthling - Mark Fearing
One Trick Pony - Nathan Hale
Secret Coders - Gene Luen Yang
Zita the Spacegirl - Ben Hatke
Supernatural & Spooky
Baba Yaga’s Assistant - Marika McCool
Ghosts - Raina Telgemeier
Ghostopolis - Doug TenNapel
Graveyard Shakes - Laura Terry
Snow White: A Graphic Novel - Matt Phelan
Thornhill - Pam Smy