We’re close to the end! Today’s top 10 are graphic novels and comics that were my favorites of the year, graphic novels that taught me, entertained me, made me feel something, and inspired me (to cosplay that is!) I always say one of the indicators for me is whether I’d want the art on my wall and that’s the case with any of these.
It’s not a secret that graphic novels are here to stay and if these are any indication of their amazingness, they’ll be around forever. Hats off to the illustrators or the creators that do double duty as author AND illustrator.
What do you look for in great graphic novels and comics?
Years back, our high school library celebrated the national Free Comic Book Day on the Monday following the nationally-celebrated first Saturday in May event.
It began when a comic nerd named Jay was interning with a social worker at our school and asked about helping kick one off and it slowly grew from there. Even after he was gone, he would return to help whether bringing tabletop games, and ideas to introducing me to people in the field who could also contribute. He’s about bringing people together over comics and he writes about it in magazines and on websites like this 2022 article called Why Buying Your Kids More Comic Books Can Benefit Their Mental Health for Inside Hook.
Then the pandemic hit and like many events, it fell by the wayside until this year. We were going to be hosting Steve Sheinkin as our author visit about a month before Free Comic Book Day and I wanted to make the connection between his award-winning Bomb being turned into a graphic novel and his Rabbi Harvey comics to comics in general whether our high schoolers were already fans or not. It’s as much about exposure for a new group of comics lovers as it is a place to connect for tried-and-true comics lovers.
Jay again stepped up when I reached out because I had mentioned wanting to do a panel or have experts on hands during our lunch shifts. Then we’d have passive activities (and a few active ones) surrounding the learning.
I worked with my Japanese Culture Club to design the activities and then invited classes from departments like art to take part. They heeded the call and brought down classes to learn from our panelists who ranged from a comics shop owner to an illustrator of several graphic novels who I was surprised to learn was local. The others were collectors since childhood, an independent publisher of comics, and contributors to the comics field in other capacities. But more than that, the students sat down and decoupaged a coaster from old comics, worked on a Marvel puzzle, and helped add pages to our pop-up zine.
We’re happy that these moments were captured by professionals in our district’s Communications department and shared with the school community. The smiling faces holding comics. The serious focus while creating their art. The intense language of a gaming tournament after school. Even though it was a long day setting up and breaking down, soaking up their enthusiasm is what keeps all of us in education young.
Representation matters. And in the case of books for teens in which the teen has a rare illness, it stands as a mirror or window for a reader. Now more than ever, books are being published featuring characters with autism, anxiety, and depression, all more common especially in 2025, but what about rarer illnesses such as Crouzon syndrome or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or spinal muscular atrophy? I’m happy to report that there are stories, and fabulously written stories at that, about rare illnesses.
I got to thinking about this yesterday afternoon having finished the book I Am The Cage by Allison Sweet Grant that was published last week. In it, nineteen year old Elisabeth is slowly revealed to have had intense medical trauma growing up as a result of leg length discrepancy. And then I remembered other books that I’ve read and enjoyed sharing with teens with similar rare illnesses.
Four additional fictional stories include the graphic novel Stars In Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aska featuring Maisie who is an amputee. Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester whose main character Veronica has hip dysplasia. The fifth book in the Teen Titans graphic novels called Starfire includes Kori who has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. And in Jawbreaker by Christina Wyman, Max struggles with the pain and possible surgery for her Class II malocclusion.
Then there are the autobiographies. As a lover of this category and whose high school library features a massive collection of amazing ones, I am always on the lookout for addition spectacular stories. And the first one, Shane Burcaw’s Laughing At My Nightmare holds a special place for me as I was able to booktalk his second book Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse at a Macmillan breakfast many years ago and then met both Shane and (then girlfriend, now wife) Hannah at a dinner during that conference. Burcaw has spinal muscular atrophy. And if you’d like a fictional YA title with a character who also has it, I highly recommend Chaz Hayden’s The First Thing About You.
One I often recommend is Ariel Henley’s A Face For Picasso, who spent her teen years under the knife (along with her twin sister who also has it) to provide symmetry to her face having been born with Crouzon syndrome and realizing what she needed versus what she wanted. Another that I share regularly and quote from regularly is Zion Clark’s (along with James S. Hirsch) Work With What You Got, a sports autobiography which rounds out his life, and fame, thus far after being born with caudal regression syndrome.
Of course there are more, however these nine are solid stories that I hope you pick up if you haven’t already.
Blogging each day during a month has been a fun adventure to challenge me and I’ve decided February is a LOVE-ly month for another round using the theme of love. Have an idea for a post? Drop it in the comments.
This past Monday was the premier event in children and teen publishing: the Youth Media Awards. While it will undoubtedly look different next year without having a midwinter conference beforehand, it will continue to be an event to be viewed. It’s where winners of big awards that add seals to books get announced to the gasps, claps, and exuberance of all who are watching. There are years I’ve been “in the room” and years like this year that I was watching the livestream making audible noises and shaking my hands in celebration. Here were the titles that I was most excited to see come across the screen either because I devoured them (not having known about them previously in the days following the YMAs or precisely because I loved them leading up to the YMAs).
With the last day of the year, what’s better than a quick post of my favorite posts from this year because they were often about amazing moments or reads from this past year.
And it wouldn’t be the end of one year and the start of another without having my last book of the year and first book of the new year lined up. Several hours ago I finished the National Book Award winner Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. It’s clear why it’s a winner.
And as if Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan made a wish come true that I whispered into the ether or not, my first read of 2025 will be Saga #71.
There’s no doubt this will be the perfect way to usher in a new year of reading. If you haven’t hitched your wagon to Saga yet, make this your year.
For the third day of the four day event featuring the best of 2024, I’m sharing my favorites targeting young adults. One is an ongoing comic in which I cosplayed the main character, Erica Slaughter at a recent comic con. One is by the GOAT of YA, Jason Reynolds. Several romance titles that. One nonfiction about deadly plants. A few autobiographies in various formats. And last, one atmospheric fairytale.
Next up, the fantastically deep bench of awesome middle grade for 2024. I could have created an honors list in addition to the ten I’m featuring as my favorites of the year.
On November 24, 2023, I posted Over this next year that explained a challenge I was embarking on to read forty books that had affected me since I was turning forty. Challenge complete.
Pacing myself throughout the year, I listened to some of the books and read others but I did purchase a few of the titles that I hadn’t previously owned. As I read each one, I flipped it to show my progress over the year.
Ultimately, a few of them will not remain on my shelf because that’s the thing about rereading books, it’s not always the same the second time around. But I’m glad for it because it shows I’m not the same person. Tastes and interest shift in books the same that it does with food or decorating or clothing. That’s to be celebrated and one of the reasons I wanted to undertake the reflective practice of rereading because I rarely reread and prefer to remember the feelings about the books rather than the content. What I learned:
Mood as a literary device is important to me a reader. The books that remain impactful are a direct result of the book’s atmosphere such as The Virgin Suicides, The Girl From the Other Side, and Mudbound.
Nonfiction, especially food memoir, literally takes the cake. Read: Crying in H Mart and Dessert Can Save the World. But books about food are right next to them like Chicken Every Sunday, First Bite, and Lessons in Chemistry.
The classics on my list didn’t hold their own unfortunately. Sorry Brave New World, The Catcher in the Rye, and Jane Eyre. But neither did the epic first book in the Mayfair Chronicles The Witching Hour, though I heart Anne Rice forever and always.
Strong, whip smart, sassy, or otherwise memorable characters are hard to forget. Benny from Circle of Friends, Naomi from Out of Darkness, Maddie from A Northern Light, Lena from Between Shades of Gray, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Melinda from Speak, Carey from If You Find Me, Charlotte from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and Hazel from Anatomy: A Love Story.
Significantrelationships tug at my heartstrings which is why I carry a torch for all of the creatures in The House In the Cerulean Sea and Saga; the dystopian community in The Giver, Werther opining in The Sorrows of Young Werther, the ultimate friendship trio in The Serpent King, and the whole crux of what Turkle stands for in Reclaiming Conversation. And as long as there will be star-crossed lovers, there will be Edward and Bella from Twilight.
Innovative formatting or a unique approach to storytelling keep me thinking about a book long after I’ve finished it. Think The Lovely Bones‘ from beyond the grave, mental illness in Challenger Deep, Long Way Down‘s mystery elevator, Crank‘s verse, The Vagina Monologues‘ well, monologues, Milk and Honey‘s Instagrammable poetry and illustrations, the library in The Midnight Library, and Calvin and Hobbes‘ daily and Sunday strips.
Picture books say so much without having to say much at all. This is where pictures speak a thousand words and the author creates the write words to allow the pictures to shine which is why Farmhouse and My First Day by Quang and Lien were on my list. Both I’ve gifted several times over.
And let’s just say I ripped a page right out of The Power of Moments to create this personal challenge, which is why I’ve relished this project over this last year; celebrating book love by reading Book Love, which was a gift from a friend. I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling opportunity and urge others to find a moment to reflect on your own reading journey– whether it’s been a few months or years or a lifetime.
What would October 31st be without a few book recs to get us all in the Halloween spirit?
Sheets by Thummler: Because Wendell the ghost haunting Marjorie’s family laundromat is sentimental and sweet.
Gyo by Ito: Because anything Ito creates is the thing of nightmares and phobias.
The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe: Because Teacher is a creature that doesn’t eat or sleep with a deer-like skull for a head who is smitten with Shiva, a little girl he wants to protect is as innocent as it is dark woven perfectly in this manga.
Eternally Yours edited by Caldwell: Because you want creepy in bite-sized short stories.
Fangs by Anderson: Because a werewolf and a vampire fall in love.
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by Romero: Because a verse novel about a ghost haunting a cemetery that a human teen befriends is my kind of book.
Ghost Book by Lai: Because creative storytelling in middle grade graphic novels couldn’t have gotten better than this book about lives lived, lost, and found again.
The Weight of Blood by Jackson: Because what book can get you to read another classic book (Carrie by King) with both bringing the gore and thrill.
The Night Easters by Liu and Takeda: Because there is so much to take in visually in this graphic novel backed by so much emotional and family baggage.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Horvath and Otsmane-Elhaou: Because an Eisner winning comic series about an unassuming bear in a small town with a penchant for murder is psychologically riveting from the first page to the last page.
Readers Be Advised 