The American Library Association has announced its annual lists of the best graphic novels for adults and for kids — spotlighting 100 really great graphic novels published in 2024.
The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table annually assembles the list, each made up of 50 titles. They also release a “top 10” for each category, with an aim to “increase awareness of the graphic novel medium, raise voices of diverse comics creators and aid library staff in the development of graphic novel collections.”
“I want to congratulate the committee on selecting this exceptional list of comics and graphic novels for young people.,” GNCRT President Shira Pilarski said. “These titles don’t just foster development of literacy skills, and they don’t just provide countless hours of entertainment for fans of graphic nonfiction, memoir, poetry and fiction. They are also beautifully illustrated works of art.”
If you’re looking for a gift for a child in your life, or even for something to read yourself, you can’t go wrong with these lists. You can find the “top ten” for adults and then for children below.
2024 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Top Ten
Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love & Murder. Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Tula Lotay. Color by Dee Cunniffe. Lettering by Richard Starkings. 2024. Dark Horse Books, $24.99 (9781506728308).
With the war over, former fighter pilot Hawk E. Baron travels the country as a barnstormer, performing aerial stunts and offering rides to make a living. When one such escapade introduces him to Tillie, a young woman ready for a new start, the two find themselves in a race against the past in this romantic adventure.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, Volume 1. Written by Patrick Horvath. Art by Patrick Horvath. Letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. 2024. IDW Publishing, $17.99 (9798887241081).
Cozy horror series about a small-town serial killer bear named Samantha whose main rule is “don’t murder the locals.” When a fellow animal town folk is murdered, Samantha sets out to hunt down her rival.
Brittle Joints. Written by Maria Sweeney. Art by Maria Sweeney. 2024. Street Noise Books, $20.99 (9781951491260).
An evocative and heartfelt graphic memoir about the challenges of living with a progressive disability.
The Deviant, Volume 1. Written by James Tynion IV. Art by Joshua Hixson. Lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Edited by Steve Foxe. Design by Tyler Boss. 2024. Image Comics, $16.99 (9781534356917).
In 1970s Milwaukee, the “Deviant Killer” dons a Santa costume and commits a series of gruesome murders. Decades later, a comic book writer interviews the man arrested for the crimes just in time for another violent holiday season.
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir. Written by Tessa Hulls. Art by Tessa Hulls. 2024. Macmillan, $25 (9780374601652).
Tessa watched her mother care for Sun Yi, both of them struggling under the weight of Sun Yi’s unexamined trauma and mental illness. Vowing to escape her mother’s smothering fear, Tessa left home and traveled to the farthest-flung corners of the globe (Antarctica). But at the age of thirty, it starts to feel less like freedom and more like running away, and she returns home to face the history that shaped her family.
Hirayasumi, Volume 1. Written by Keigo Shinzo. Art by Keigo Shinzo. 2024. VIZ Media, $14.99 (9781974746910).
Hiroto is just casually passing through life without much ambition or direction. But when he begins a platonic, intergenerational relationship with someone much older than he is, Hiroto begins to piece together how he can be a better person.
The Jellyfish. Written by Boum. Art by Boum. Translated by Robin Lang & Helge Dascher. 2024. Pow Pow Press, $22.95 (9782925114307).
Odette has a jellyfish in her eye, and, slowly but surely, they are enlarging and multiplying. Can she tell her girlfriend? Her friends? Her mom? She was finally getting this whole “adulting” thing, living alone in her Montreal apartment and chilling at cafes, but the jellyfish just HAD to attack. No matter, a trip to the eye doctor will defeat them, right?
Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir. Written by Denise Dorrance. Art by Denise Dorrance. 2024. The Experiment, $19.95 (9781615199051).
A daughter returns home to winter in Iowa to care for her ailing elderly mother, gamely navigating the vagaries of the US healthcare system, while coming to terms with mortality.
Rare Flavours. Written by Ram V. Art by Filipe Andrade. 2024. BOOM! Studios, $16.99 (9781608861538).
Inspired by Anthony Bourdain’s passing, Rubin Baksh, an epicure and demonic Rakshasa, hires Mo, a dejected and defeated filmmaker, to shoot a documentary exploring India’s cuisine and the people who make it. But Rubin’s tastes go beyond food to human flesh, and dangerous enemies seek to curb his appetites.
The Hidden Life of Trees. Written by Peter Wohlleben. Art by Benjamin Flao. Translated by Fred Bernard. 2024. Greystone Books, $35.00 (9781778401657).
A graphic novel adaptation of the book by the same name. It looks at the vital importance of trees for all life.
See the complete reading list, which includes 50 titles, on the ALA website.
2024 Best Graphic Novels for Children Top Ten
The Circuit Graphic Novel. Written by Francisco Jiménez. Art by Celia Jacobs. Adapted by Andrew J. Rostan. 2024. Clarion Books, $24.99 (9780358348214).
In this memoir, Francisco Jiménez describes his youth as a child in a family of poor Mexican immigrants living in California. To survive, he and his family performed the backbreaking work of harvesting crops by hand.
Ellie in First Position. Written by Brian Freschi. Art by Elena Triolo. Translated by Nanette McGuinness. 2023. Marble Press, $13.99 (9781958325001).
After her parents’ divorce, Ellie has to deal with being the new kid at school. Her mother encourages her to join a sport to make friends, but no sport she tries fits. Ellie secretly desires to dance, an activity of which her mother disapproves.
The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival. Written by Estelle Nadel, Sammy Savos, and Bethany Strout. Art by Sammy Savos. Interior design by Yan May. Cover design by Sunny Lee. 2024. Roaring Brook Press, $17.99 (9781250247773).
Enia was only seven years old when the Nazis invaded Poland at the start of WWII, and she and her Jewish family went into hiding. She describes the hardships and tragedies the family faced during and after the war when she and her surviving brothers came to the United States.
The Legend of Tiger and Tail-Flower. Written by Lee Gee Eun. Art by Lee Gee Eun. Translation by Aerin Park. 2024. Levine Querido, $19.99 (9781646144594).
When a dandelion gets stuck to the tail of a grouchy tiger, the two soon become friends.
Lion Dancers. Written by Cai Tse. Art by Cai Tse. 2024. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $23.99 (9781665927246).
Wei dreamed of being a lion dancer until an accident led him to quit. Years later, a chance encounter leads him to try dancing again. But there’s a slight hitch. One of his new teammates is Hung, his ex-friend who is bitter about Wei’s return to the sport.
Plain Jane and the Mermaid. Written by Vera Brosgol. Art by Vera Brosgol. 2024. First Second, $22.99 (9781250314864).
When her parents die, Jane is evicted from her home. The only way to avoid homelessness is by getting married. Jane hopes a young man named Peter will be her salvation. But when Peter is kidnapped by a mermaid, Jane must journey underwater to save his life…and her own.
Poetry Comics. Written by Grant Snider. Art by Grant Snider. 2024. Chronicle Books, $18.99 (9781797219653).
Poems are grouped into seasonal themes and illustrated in the graphic novel format.
Saving H’Non: Chang and the Elephant. Written by Trang Nguyễn. Illustrated by Jeet Zdũng, Phuong An, Hoang Long, and Ngoc Hoan. Color by Nguyet Han. Translated by Hoang Duy. Designed by Lihn Phan. Edited by Lisa Edwards and Rose Ahmed. 2023. Dial Books for Young Readers, $23.99 (9780593406731).
Baseball has defined Elena’s identity. When another season ends, she has no true friends to hang out with for the summer. After her brother invites her to play with his friends, she finds more to life than baseball – if only if she can rediscover her ability to imagine.
Wildflower Emily: A Story About Young Emily Dickinson. Written by Lydia Corry. Art by Lydia Corry. 2024. Godwin Books, $22.99 (9781250868213).
This graphic novel biography of poet Emily Dickinson beautifully weaves Dickinson’s love of nature as a child into her development as a poet. The graphic novel includes beautiful four-color art and examples of Dickinson’s poetry.
Wildful. Written by Kengo Kurimoto. Art by Kengo Kurimoto. 2024. Groundwood Books, $21.99 (9781773068626).
After meeting a new friend, a grieving young girl finds solace in the mysterious beauty of nature.
See the complete reading list, which includes 50 titles, on the ALA website.