Graphic novels are extremly popular with all age groups of readers. Middle grade readers especially seem to enjoy reading them, and they serve as a valuable tool for building essential reading skills and fostering a lifelong love of reading.
Reading graphic novels is also a wonderful way to encourage a reluctant reader. With though the books have a more visual format, they still have all the other characteristics of any other book, including plots, character development, and settings. Graphic novels also have a large range of genres including fantasy, realistic fiction, horror, and retelling of classics, there is a book style/genre for everyone!
The graphics/pictures with the stories also help younger readers to understand vocabulary from the story, decode actions from the text and pictures, and explore the themes in the book. Often, the graphic novels come in a series, so they are looking to read more than one book in a series as well, which means they have to remember characters and meaning from one book to another.
Graphic novels are a lot more than just books with pictures! Check out our selection of graphic novels at your local branch! Below we have highlighted a few for you to check out!
Batcat
Author:
Meggie Ramm
Genre:
Fantasy/Humor
Summary:
Batcat loves being all alone in their home on Spooky Island. Up in their tree house, they pass the time playing video games and watching TV.
But, when Batcat suddenly finds themself haunted by an annoying, ice cream-stealing ghost, they visit the local Island Witch for a spell to remove their ghastly guest permanently! With their Ghost-B-Gone spell in hand, Batcat travels across Spooky Island to gather ingredients–to the Cavernous Caves where the bats tell them they’re too round to be a bat, and to the Whispering Cemetery where the cats will help only if they commit to being a true cat. But Batcat is neither and that’s what makes them special, right?
Shiny Misfits
Author:
Masoon Zayid & Shadia Amin
Genre:
Humor/Realistic Fiction
Summary:
Bay Ann wants to shine. No matter what.
She’s sure her moment in the spotlight has arrived when she wins the school talent show with a showstopping tap routine! But then her classmate and crush, Alyee Maq, causes her to wobble and almost fall. The video of him catching her goes viral, making Alyee an overnight sensation for “helping her.” Bay Ann is reduced to her disability and her talent is ignored.
Bay Ann doesn’t want her classmate to get all the fame, and she is NOT satisfied being anything but the best. She’ll do everything in her power to beat Alyee at his own attention-seeking game. With the help of her two best friends, Michelle and Davey Matt, she’ll go up against Alyee and his crew to prove she’s number one.
But as Bay Ann tries to find the thing that really makes her stand out, everything she tries goes disastrously wrong. What if the only way to beat her enemy . . . is to join him?
Ghost Book
Author:
Remy Lai
Genre:
Fiction
Summary:
July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren’t real. So she pretends they don’t exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it’s Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world. When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He’s a wandering soul wavering between life and death. As the new friends embark on an adventure to return William to his body, they unearth a ghastly truth―for William to live, July must die.
Inspired by Chinese mythology, this dark yet resoundingly hopeful tale about friendship, sacrifice, and the unseen world of ghosts is a dazzling heir to beloved Studio Ghibli classics.
The Adventures of Invisible Boy
Author:
Doogie Horner
Genre:
Fantasy/Adventure
Summary:
It’s his first day at a new school, and Stanley wishes he could disappear. He can hardly believe it when, after a big spill at the science fair, POOF!
Stanley is invisible! It’s awesome! He can do anything he wants, and no one will know!
But Stanley isn’t the only one who turned invisible. The inventor of the potion is not happy about the accident and takes his anger out on kids
all over town.
Stanley wants to use his power for good . . . which means going up against the one person who can make him visible again.
Get ready for a battle of the ages.
Check out the second book in the series!
The Adventures of Invisible Boy: Zero to Hero
The Legend of Auntie Po
Author:
Shing Yin Khor
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Summary:
Aware of the racial tumult in the years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mei tries to remain blissfully focused on her job, her close friendship with the camp foreman’s daughter, and telling stories about Paul Bunyan–reinvented as Po Pan Yin (Auntie Po), an elderly Chinese matriarch.
Anchoring herself with stories of Auntie Po, Mei navigates the difficulty and politics of lumber camp work and her growing romantic feelings for her friend Bee. The Legend of Auntie Po is about who gets to own a myth, and about immigrant families and communities holding on to rituals and traditions while staking out their own place in the United States.
Pashmina
Author:
Nidhi Chanani
Genre:
Magical Realism/Fantasy
Summary:
Priyanka Das has so many unanswered questions: Why did her mother abandon her home in India years ago? What was it like there? And most importantly, who is her father, and why did her mom leave him behind? But Pri’s mom avoids these questions―the topic of India is permanently closed.
For Pri, her mother’s homeland can only exist in her imagination. That is, until she find a mysterious pashmina tucked away in a forgotten suitcase. When she wraps herself in it, she is transported to a place more vivid and colorful than any guidebook or Bollywood film. But is this the real India? And what is that shadow lurking in the background? To learn the truth, Pri must travel farther than she’s ever dared and find the family she never knew.
We Are Big Time
Author:
Hena Khan & Safiya Zerrougui
Genre:
Sports Fiction
Summary:
Aliya is new to Wisconsin, and everything feels different than Florida. The Islamic school is bigger, the city is colder, and her new basketball team is… well, they stink.
Aliya’s still excited to have teammates (although Noura’s not really Aliya’s biggest fan) and their new coach really understands basketball (even if she doesn’t know much about being Muslim.) This season should be a blast…if they could just start to win.
Join Aliya and the Peace Academy on a headline-making season where they strengthen their skills and their Muslim identities–all while discovering that it takes more than talent to be great, and that teamwork and self-confidence can define true success.
Bea Wolf
Author:
Zach Weinersmith & Boulet
Genre:
Classic Retelling
Summary:
Listen! Hear a tale of mallow-munchers and warriors who answer candy’s clarion call!
Somewhere in a generic suburb stands Treeheart, a kid-forged sanctuary where generations of tireless tykes have spent their youths making merry, spilling soda, and staving off the shadow of adulthood. One day, these brave warriors find their fun cut short by their nefarious neighbor Grindle, who can no longer tolerate the sounds of mirth seeping into his joyless adult life.
As the guardian of gloom lays siege to Treeheart, scores of kids suddenly find themselves transformed into pimply teenagers and sullen adults! The survivors of the onslaught cry out for a savior―a warrior whose will is unbreakable and whose appetite for mischief is unbounded.
Things in the Basement
Author:
Ben Hatke
Genre:
Adventure/Fiction
Summary:
t was supposed to just be a normal basement―some storage boxes, dust, you know, the usual basement stuff. But when Milo is sent by his mother to fetch a sock from the basement of the historic home they’ve moved into, Milo finds a door in the back that he’s never seen before.
Turns out that the basement of his house is enormous. In fact, there is a whole world down there. As Milo travels ever deeper into the Basement World, he meets the many Things that live in the shadows and gloom…and he learns that to face his fears he must approach even the strangest creatures with kindness.
Creaky Acres
Author:
Calista Brill & Nilah Magruder
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Summary:
Nora is a prize-winning horseback rider in a suburban area, with a tight-knit circle of best friends. But when her mom gets a prestigious new job in a poor, rural area, she has to adjust to a lot of change: to being the only Black kid in a new class and to a new barn called Creaky Acres, where her beloved horse, Hay Fever, will make his new home.
It’s there she meets sweet and geeky Laura, goofy and fun-loving Wilson, and fearless Dolores (aka Dizzy). With her ragtag team of equestrians, Nora learns it’s okay to stand out and steps into her power as a leader, realizing that being a rider isn’t just about winning—or maybe that winning just might look different than what she’d thought.
Curlfriends: New In Town
Author:
Sharee Miller
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Summary:
Charlie has a foolproof plan for the first day at her new middle school. Even though she’s used to starting over as the new kid—thanks to her military family’s constant moving—making friends has never been easy for her. But this time, her first impression needs to last, since this is where her family plans to settle for good.
So she’s hiding any interests that may seem “babyish,” updating her look, and doing her best to leave her shyness behind her…but is erasing the real Charlie the best way to make friends?
When not everything goes exactly to plan, like, AT ALL, Charlie is ready to give up on making new friendships. Then she meets the Curlfriends, a group of Black girls who couldn’t be more different from each other, and learns that maybe there is a place for Charlie to be her true self after all.
D&D Dungeon Club: Roll Call
Author:
Molly Knox Ostertag & Xanthe Bouma
Genre:
Fantasy/Action & Adventure
Summary:
Middle school is a dungeon… At least, that’s how Jess sees it.
Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little kid games of make-believe, and more recently with the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. When they play, Olivia runs the game as Dungeon Master and Jess is the solo party member, playing a take-no-prisoners, lone-wolf fighter of her own design named Sir Corius.
But when Olivia wants to add new players to their group, Jess finds herself struggling to share their game—and her best friend. Will their epic campaign withstand all this change, or has their adventure—and their friendship—finally come to an end?
Gamerville
Author:
Johnnie Christmas
Genre:
Fiction
Summary:
Max Lightning is howling at the moon—he’s finally qualified for Gamerville, a championship where players compete to be top dog in the multiplayer video game Lone Wolf of Calamity Bay. But his dreams of domination are doomed when his parents send him to Camp Reset. Gone are the long nights of downing energy drinks and getting copious amounts of screen time. They’ve been replaced with fresh air and group activities under the hot sun—a shock to the system for a lone wolf like Max. Can Max escape Camp Reset and level up at Gamerville, or has he finally played his last match?
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