High school student Yamato Kobayashi is struggling. He can’t seem to keep a job and has almost given up entirely on school. When Kobayashi meets transfer student Keisuke Uno, a sometimes loud and talkative student who keeps a notebook of rules to make his life easier, his life starts to change. Soon, the two are friends, Uno helping Kobayashi to focus better and Kobayashi helping Uno to take chances and go for what he wants.
Spacewalking With You features teens who are coded neurodivergent, but do not have a diagnosis (the author addresses this in the author’s note). Kobayashi and Uno are as different as can be, but their friendship strengthens both of them. The artwork is whimsical with exaggerated expressions. The storyline is heartwarming and handles tough topics such as mental health and learning how to thrive in a world not built for you in a gentle way.
Hand this manga to fans of comical slice of life stories like Komi Can’t Communicate or Hirayasumi. Those who appreciate the friendships forged in A Silent Voice will also appreciate Spacewalking With You.
2024. 281p. Ten Speed Graphic, paper, $25.99 (9781984857729). General adult. 741.5973.
This comic reimagines the controversial Mark Twain classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, placing the enslaved Black man Jim as the story’s central figure.
2024. 320p. Versify, paper, $18.99 (9780358394747). Gr. 9-12. 741.5973.
In the summer of 1995, fourteen-year-old Almudena goes to live with her father, Xavier, helping him renovate an old brownstone into apartments and learning about her Guatemalan heritage.
2024. 220p. Maverick, paper, $14.99 (9781952303609). Gr. 9-12. 741.5973.
Neesha and Gabby meet on their first day at a new North Carolina high school and bond over their love of an out-of-print manga series in this heartwarming romance.
2024. 208p. Penguin Workshop, paper, $17.99 (9780593521304). Gr. 7-12. 741.5973.
The theater club of a South Korean university in the 80s goes on a mountainous winter excursion with no parental supervision for a weekend full of unexpected feelings and adventures.
Art by the author. 2024. 368p. First Second, paper, $14.99 (9781250314857). Gr. 5-9. 741.5973.
“Plain” Jane proposes a marriage of convenience to handsome fisherman Peter – but when he’s kidnapped by a mermaid, she must set off on an unexpected adventure.
Art by Haining. 2024. 176p. DC Comics, paper, $16.99 (9781779523013). Gr. 9-12. 741.5973.
Xanthe Zhou, a nonbinary Chinese hero who can travel between the lands of living and dead, teams up with John Constantine to rescue Batgirl from the Spirit World.
Art by the author. 2024. 270p. Ize Press, paper, $20.00 (9798400901119). Gr. 7-12. 741.59519.
After standing up for a bullied classmate, Sori Lee transfers to a new school and finds a mysterious series of letters.
2025 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Committee Members
Coordinator:Meg Bowie, Free Library of Philadelphia
Committee Members:Arianna Lechan, Simmons University, School of Library and Information Science, Boston Massachusetts; Heather Christensen, Portales High School, Portales, New Mexico; Jessica Duong, Fresno County Public Library; Kim Keown Farnsworth, Sacramento Public Library; Kyler Wesner, Abbott Library; Lee Stokes, Upper Darby Township Library; M’issa Fleming, New Orleans Public Library; Melanie C. Duncan, Middle Georgia Regional Library; Patricia Jimenez, Sunnyslope High School; Verónica Muñiz-Soto, Free Library of Philadelphia; Wendy Stephens, Jacksonville State University
Fantasy-loving Lucy starts sixth grade in the school where her popular eighth grade sister, GiGi, is a fencing champion. Lucy and GiGi have not always gotten along, but things have gotten worse between them since their fencing instructor father passed away. When GiGi purposefully trips Lucy in the cafeteria, Lucy pulls out GiGi’s foil and challenges her to a duel. Threatened with being pulled from the team, GiGi concocts a plan: she’ll tell the coach that Lucy, who hasn’t fenced since her father’s death, is trying out for the team and needs to compete against her.
Duel explores the complexities of relationships with family and friends, bullying, and grief. GiGi struggles with perfection, while Lucy is dealing with her sister’s bullying, and both feel abandoned by their mother. Aaron Bagley’s illustrations are highly detailed and brightly colored. Duel is told in both sister’s perspectives: Lucy’s thought boxes are colored in yellow and GiGi’s in purple to help the reader distinguish between the two. Lucy and GiGi are presented as biracial and supporting characters are a variety of different skin tones and body types.
Readers who enjoy stories with sibling rivalries likeSistersby Raina Telgemeier or Twinsby Varian Johnson will find much to love here. Action-filled fencing scenes will entice readers of sports comics likeRoller Girl by Victoria Jamieson and Swim Teamby Johnny Christmas.
