Panda bears,
My eldest kid has been on an absolute BENDER with graphic novels the past few months… so much so that I consider it my part time job/hobby/obsession hunting for new titles for her to consume!
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It seems she’s not the only one – the market for tween graphic novels is BOOMING right now. Especially for girls. There is a whole comic kids subgenre that’s less about superheros and more relational drama.
This is my kid’s favourites out of the 70 or so graphic novels she has read in the last three months… so the research was fairly extensive!
If you are ever concerned about your kids reading graphic novels instead of “real novels” – don’t worry. Whatever fosters a love of reading is a great thing!
Plus – I’m an addict to graphic novels & memoirs myself… so I completely get the love affair. I often use them as a way to learn about difficult topics too – like learning about the racial injustice of the US prison system.
Raina Taigmeier
Raina is the undisputed Queen of Tween Girl Graphic Novels, I reckon.
Check out some of her book range here. My kid especially adored her graphic versions of The Baby-Sitter’s Club, but the Smile/Sisters/Guts series were brilliant too… and Drama… and Ghosts… Oof. JUST GET ALL OF THEM ALREADY. Raina 4 President.
Go With The Flow – this one is slightly older focussed, but an important feminist read nonetheless. It’s about 4 friends who band together for menstrual equality.
Terri Libenson has a tonne of books out, but this middle-grader Emmie & Friends series was a hit with my kid.
These two books are all about girl power & friendship. One protagonist is 11, the other is 12. They were a real delight for my 11 year old.
Jen Wang’s “Stargazing” is talked about in reverential tones by my kid. She says it’s magical and dreamy and can’t wait for the next Jen Wang book.
The Click series by Kayla Miller is up to #4 now. My kid gobbled them up and inhaled them whole like it was some kind of tween lifeforce.
The Sunny Side Up series by Jennifer L. Holm was another hit. A middle school girl deals with life changes & school transitions. Also, unrelated but related: my kid loved books that were a series so she could dive even deeper into them.
Another series that drew my kid into a glorious dreamlike book state. Molly Knox Ostertag‘s Witch Boy series is magic. Slightly scarier than most of the other books I’ve listed here, but my sensitive 11yo was fine with them.
Lorena Alvarez‘s Nightlights series bewitched my kid in the very best of ways.
Ma De Radigues is the only dude author on this list… feel privileged, dude! His adventure series Stig & Tilde was adorable enough to enchant my fairy of a kid.
Svetlana Chmakova’s Berrybrook Middle School books were so good my kid just kind of… disappeared into her room for days to consume them whole. The mark of some wonderful books indeed.
I hope these books bring as much joy to your kid as they have mine…
It’s taken me an assload of time to find all the graphic novels I have for her… even though the market is growing, they are finding it hard to keep up with demand! Especially since a graphic novel takes at least a year to complete… and my kid can read up to 5 a day. We need more graphic novelists in the world, clearly!
If you’ve got any recommendations, please pop me an email so I can stock up some more!
With love & book gladness,
