Live Oak Public Libraries: READING RECOMMENDATIONS: Graphic Novels

Reading Recommendations

Summer 2021 - Adults, Young Adults, and Children

Graphic Novels

Graphic novels have provided entertainment for decades. With the recent revival of movies, shows, and games inspired by them, a new generation of readers gets to experience this fun form of storytelling. Graphic novels have grown from their foundation of superhero tales to exploring characters and topics of all kinds that relate to our modern society.

Click on book covers to access resources.

Nonfiction

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei; Justin Eisinger; Steven Scott; Harmony Becker (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781603094504
Publication Date: 2019-07-16
A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.
Making Comics by Scott McCloud
ISBN: 9780060780944
Publication Date: 2006-09-05
This is a brilliant instruction on how to actually create this widely beloved art form. McCloud focuses his analysis on the art form itself, exploring the creation of comics, from the broadest principles to the sharpest details. And he does all of it in his inimitable voice and through his cartoon stand-in narrator, mixing dry humor and legitimate instruction.

Adults

Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham; James Jean (Illustrator); Alex Maleev (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781401237554
Publication Date: 2012-05-22
When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile...
Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman; Tony Moore (Artist); Cliff Rathburn (Artist)
ISBN: 9781582406725
Publication Date: 2013-02-19
The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living...

Manga

Uzumaki by Junji Ito
ISBN: 9781421561325
Publication Date: 2013-10-15
A masterpiece of horror manga! Kurouzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed - and not by a person or being but a pattern...
My Hero Academia, Vol. 1 by Kohei Horikoshi
ISBN: 9781421582696
Publication Date: 2015-08-04
Midoriya inherits the superpower of the world's greatest hero, but greatness won't come easy. An encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all, gives him a chance to change his destiny...

Young Adult

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki; Jillian Tamaki (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781596437746
Publication Date: 2014-05-06
It's a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other. This is a gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of her teen age--a story of renewal and revelation.
Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
ISBN: 9781250177964
Publication Date: 2018-09-18
Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. This is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself...

Children

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
ISBN: 9780545581608
Publication Date: 2016-08-30
Here comes Dog Man, the canine cop who's part dog, part man, and ALL HERO! This heroic hound digs into deception, claws after crooks, rolls over robbers, and scampers after squirrels. Will he be able to resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
ISBN: 9781338740264
Publication Date: 2020-11-10
This New York Times-bestselling, Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir follows a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.

READING RECOMMENDATIONS