The best graphic novels for teenagers do what the best novels do: they take their readers seriously. They are about friendship and first love, about who you are and where you come from, and sometimes about history that still matters.
Every book here won or was nominated for an Eisner or Harvey Award. Several are now taught in schools, and a few became films.
Winner2016
ND Stevenson
Great for a fantasy fan with a sense of humor
Nimona is a shapeshifting teenager who talks her way into becoming the sidekick of the kingdom's top villain, Ballister Blackheart. It starts as a funny fantasy and turns into something much deeper about who the real villains are. Now an animated film too.
2016 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: Reprint winner
Winner2007
Gene Luen Yang
Great for a reader who likes a clever twist
Three stories that seem unrelated: the Monkey King of Chinese legend, a Chinese American boy at a new school, and a sitcom-style teen with a cousin from China who embodies every stereotype. They come together in a surprising way. A modern classic.
2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New winner
Winner2015
Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Great for a thoughtful reader
Every summer Rose goes to the same beach cottage with her parents and spends the days with her younger friend Windy. This summer, things are changing. A quiet, true-feeling book about growing up, drawn in deep blue tones.
2015 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New winner
Winner2019
Jen Wang
Great for a romantic
Prince Sebastian's parents are looking for a bride for him, but he has a secret: at night he wears daring dresses and becomes the fashion icon Lady Crystallia. Only his dressmaker, Frances, knows. A warm, joyful fairy tale.
2019 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens winner
Nominee2016
John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Great for a teen interested in history
The late congressman John Lewis tells his own story of the American civil rights movement, from his childhood on a farm in Alabama to the lunch counter sit-ins and beyond. The first book of a trilogy that is now read in schools across America.
2016 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens nominee
Winner2020
Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell
Great for a teen in love
Freddy's girlfriend, Laura Dean, is the most popular girl in school, and she keeps breaking up with Freddy, then getting back together. A funny, honest book about a relationship that is not good for you, and the friends you neglect along the way.
2020 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens winner
Winner2015
E. M. Carroll
Great for a horror fan
Five dark, eerie stories in the spirit of old fairy tales, about houses, forests and the things that wait in them. Beautiful, frightening and perfect for reading at night.
2015 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: Reprint winner
Winner2021
Trung Le Nguyen
Great for a reader who loves fairy tales
Tiến reads fairy tales with his mother, a Vietnamese immigrant, to help her learn English. He is also trying to find a way to tell her that he is gay, without the words to do it. Stunning art, and a book about how stories connect us.
2021 Harvey Award for Book of the Year winner
Winner2015
Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, ND Stevenson, and Gus Allen
Great for a kid who loved summer camp
Five friends at a summer camp for 'hardcore lady-types' keep running into monsters, talking animals and mysteries in the woods. Funny, fast and full of friendship.
2015 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens winner
Nominee2021
Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Great for a reader who likes true stories
The true story of Omar Mohamed, who grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, caring for his younger brother Hassan and dreaming of school. Told with warmth and hope, not just hardship.
2021 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Memoir nominee
Nimona, American Born Chinese, The Prince and the Dressmaker and Lumberjanes are all good places to start.
They are written for teens and young adults, but some deal with serious subjects like racism, war or relationships. If you are not sure, read a few pages first.
Yes. The March trilogy is widely taught in middle and high schools as part of lessons on the civil rights movement.
See every award-winning book for teens