15 amazing graphic novels for girls
In 2023, graphic novel sales in North America reached $1.87 billion, according to Publishers Weekly.
However, many of last year’s top-selling graphic novels weren’t aimed at middle-grade and YA girls. Although I can’t find gender-specific data, anecdotally, it seems like young female readers are growing in numbers, as I see more of them in major comic book fan spaces, like at local comic shops, comic book conventions, book readings/signings at libraries and bookstores, and other fandom-adjacent events.
If you have a young comic book nerd in your life, here are the 15 most amazing graphic novels for girls for their reading pleasure (this is also a great list for adults, as I can vouch for the quality of each of these books.)
15. Read at Your Own Risk
Read at Your Own Risk (2024) is the most distinctive, intriguing work from the award-winning Ghost Book cartoonist Remy Lai. Told in a sketch diary format reminiscent of Jeff Kinney’s The Dairy of a Wimpy Kid series, this 2024 graphic novel tells the story of Hannah, a young girl haunted by a possessed dairy attempting to bring about her ultimate demise, providing young readers with some of the middle-grade horror genre’s creepiest and most provocative imagery.
Reading Age: 8 – 12 years
14. Wildflower Emily: A Story About Young Emily Dickinson
Lydia Corry’s Wildflower Emily (2024) is a mostly historical account of the childhood of Emily Dickinson, one of America’s most influential poets even though only 10 of the “Poems of Emily Dickinson” were published during her lifetime. Rather than focus on the more turbulent adult years of the poet’s life, Corry’s graphic novel tells the story of a young Dickinson’s relationship with her dog and how the duo would collect flowers together.
Reading Age: 7 – 10 years
13. Misfit Mansion
Illustrated with charming, stylized art and a bright color palate, Kay Davault’s Misfit Mansion (2023) is about a group of cartoonishly adorable monsters trapped in a retired paranormal investigator’s “foster home for horrors.” Believing they have a “scary” appearance and are a threat to the human world, some monsters seek to break free to experience the world’s wonders, including their town’s annual Halloween festival, and find a forever home to deepen their connection with others.
Reading Age: 8+ years
12. Wait Till Helen Comes Graphic Novel: A Ghost Story
Wait Till Helen Comes (2022) is Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton, and Russ Badgett’s graphic novel adaptation of Mary Downing Hahn’s 1989 Young Readers Choice Awards-winning novel of the same name. It follows a 12-year-old girl, Molly, her brother Michael, and 7-year-old stepsister Heather as they deal with the supernatural happenings in their new home. Dealing with complex subjects like death and grief, the spooky ghost story with YA-level scares is about overcoming difficult family dynamics and is appropriate for fans of the gothic horror style of Henry James’ famous novella The Turn of the Screw dealing with psychological menace, dread, and the shadows that overtake our inner selves.
Reading Age: 8 – 12 years
11. Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms
2021’s Cheer Up! by LGBTQIA+ creators Crystal Frasier and Val Wise is an award-winning coming-of-age graphic novel about a trans teen who is captain of her high school cheer squad and her former BFF turned love interest, an outspoken lesbian with an outstanding back flip. This comic is for fans of sweet romance and high school sports stories, with powerful LGBTQIA+ themes (e.g., how to be a supportive ally).
Reading Age: 12+ years
10. Doña Quixote: Flight of the Witch
From best-selling writer Rey Terciero and artist Monica M. Magaña, the Doña Quixote duology is about a relatable Texan middle-school student, Lucia, a modern-day knight and local hero, who, with the help of her best friend Sandro—whom she demeaningly calls “squire” before learning how to appreciate his help—defends her community against deadly, mythical foes. Released in the fall of 2024, this is the second volume in the middle-grade series, Flight of the Witch, which is a gender-bending, contemporary retelling of Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra’s Spanish epic, Don Quixote.
Reading Age: 8 – 12 years
9. Hellaween: A Graphic Novel
Created by storyboard artist and cartoonist Moss Lawton, whose credits include the comic book series Invader Zim and Netflix animated film Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, Hellaween volume one debuted in fall 2023, with volume two (subtitled “Spellbound”) having been released earlier this year. Told with a dark comedy tone, the series is about aspiring witch Gwen, who gets bullied most of the year by small-town “normies,” which makes her desperate to escape the “suburban prison” where she currently resides. In an attempt to find a place where she would be more accepted, Gwen begins to learn how to use her innate magical ability to open a doorway to the Hallowlands, the birthplace of Halloween and the home of her two best friends.
Reading Age: 10 – 14 years
8. Scarlet Witch: The Complete Collection
As a Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch stan, it was next to impossible for me to decide which of her comic books to put on this list. Because of its relevance to Marvel Studios’ most recent Disney+ series, Agatha All Along, I decided to feature writer James Robinson’s 2016 take on the Romani witch, featuring contributions from numerous all-star Marvel Comics artists, including Joelle Jones, Marguerite Sauvage, and Tula Lotay. In the series, the Scarlet Witch embarks on a globe-trotting journey to fix witchcraft with the help of the ghost of her mentor, Agatha Harkness, culminating with the duo traveling to the Witches’ Road, where Wanda meets her long-dead mother (Agatha All Along fans, sound familiar?)
Reading Age: 9+ years
7. All’s Faire in Middle School
An endearing choice for role-playing geeks is the Newbery Honor Book-winning Victoria Jamieson’s All’s Faire in Middle School, the less well-known graphic novel from the all-star creator. It is about the struggle of trying to fit in when you come from a “different ” family and how embracing those differences can be a young girl’s most significant source of strength.
Reading Age: 10 – 12 years
6. The Ojja-Wojja
From LGBTQIA+ creative duo Magdelene Visaggio (writer) and Jenn St-Onge (artist), The Ojja Wojja (2023) is the first entry in a new graphic novel series. In the series’s debut entry, eighth-grade BFFs and outcasts Val (who is queer) and Lanie (who is on the spectrum) awaken an ancient evil when they’re assigned a school project investigation of their small town’s paranormal history, forcing them to figure out how to get the whole town to stop acting like their bully. The coming-of-age story is inspired by classic monster tales, which often examine marginalized communities’ difficulties when struggling for mainstream society’s acceptance.
Reading Age: 10 – 12 years
5. Youth Group
Fans of the TV show adaptations of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Runaways will love Jordan Morris and Bowen McCurdy’s YA graphic novel Youth Group, published in the summer of 2024. Set in Orange County, California, in the 1990s, it’s a funny tale about an Evangelical group of demon hunters who buck oppressive religious norms by going against their pastor’s prejudiced counseling so that they can work alongside atheist, Wiccan, Catholic, and Jewish exorcists when lesser Hell demons attempt to take over Earth.
Reading Age: 14 – 18 years
4. A Haunted Girl
A Haunted Girl, written by father-daughter team Ethan and Naomi Sacks with art by Marco Lorenzana, is based on a true story but with a strong Japanese horror/fantasy twist. Popular enough with readers to get a second printing (a big deal in the comics industry), this 2024 graphic novel thoughtfully, carefully, and expertly addresses complex mental health topics impacting teen girls, like depression and attempted suicide, by taking the time to tell a story that shows that recovery isn’t a straight line.
Reading Age: 12+ years
3. Ghost Roast
Published in January 2024, Harvey Award nominee Ghost Roast by authors Shawneé and Shawnelle Gibbs and artist Emily Cannon is a YA ghost-hunting story set in one of America’s spookiest cities: New Orleans, Louisiana. The stand-alone graphic novel is about high schooler Chelsea Grant, who, after being arrested while attending an end-of-year graveyard party with her new, “cool” friends, is grounded and required to get a summer job with her dad, a NOLA ghost hunter who’s well-known locally for his super-embarrassing commercials. When their ghost-busting services are requested at a former plantation, Chelsea discovers she can see ghosts (including a cute undead boy named Oliver), giving the story an angle more than gender-bending Ghostbusters. If you’re looking for a YA ghost-hunt full of Southern history and sweet paranormal romance, this graphic novel is perfect for you.
Reading Age: 13+ years
2. Leap
Arriving in stores on November 12, 2024, Leap is author, illustrator, and beginning contemporary dance student Simina Popescu’s debut graphic novel. A passionate champion of LGBTQIA+ representation in contemporary media, their debut graphic novel is a story about queer dance students in Romania, where coming out can be dangerous. It explores some of the dance industry’s prejudices and how it can still be risky to live authentically and love who you want.
Reading Age: 14 – 18 years
1. M Is for Monster: A Graphic Novel
In Talia Dutton’s 2022 debut graphic novel, M is for Monster, she explores monstrousness in modern society by reimagining Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic classic Frankenstein. A perfect YA graphic novel for people interested in psychological horror, Dutton expertly navigates the topics of grief, identity, and self-discovery in a story about a monster who doesn’t feel at home in their own body after her older sister brings them back to life.
Reading Age: 14+ years
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