The Best Recent Queer YA Comics
Excellent reads from the Rainbow List and Great Graphic Novels list developed by librarians this year.
Today’s Our Queerest Shelves is brought to you by: Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
"Within the first few pages of Greta & Valdin, I was already struggling not to laugh aloud in my crowded office.” —Elle
Sharp, hilarious, and with an undeniable emotional momentum that builds to an exuberant conclusion, Greta & Valdin is fresh, joyful, and alive with the possibility of love in its many mystifying forms. Find out more about Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster here!
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Hey Rainbow Readers!
Slowly but surely, the best books lists from 2023, as debated and curated by librarians, are making their way to the internet. The American Library Association’s many divisions develop these as guides for not only helping library workers with collection development but also for book recommendations to library users. I pay a lot of attention to the books given attention by teen librarians, since YA is my jam, so I have been excited to finally see those lists popping up. Among them are the best YA fiction of last year, best audiobooks, best books for readers who are more reluctant to read, and today’s topic of choice, great graphic novels.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
I wanted to highlight a handful of the queer graphic novels bestowed with space on the 2024 list below so you, too, can dive into some new favorite reads. I have pulled the titles from the full great graphic novels for teens list, as well as perused the Rainbow List for best queer books for youth. These are great titles to dig into whether or not you’re a big YA reader or comics reader—you might just be surprised and delighted by what the category and format have to offer queer readers.
¡Ay, Mija! My Bilingual Summer in Mexico by Christine Suggs
Christine is biracial, and they are spending their summer in Mexico to reconnect with that side of the family. The first week they're there, they'll be solo, then their mother will join.
It's an unforgettable summer of reconnecting with their family, fumbling and practicing Spanish, wrestling with their gender and sexuality in light of religious beliefs, and more. It's both full of heart and full of challenge, and it is the kind of story so many biracial readers are going to connect with immediately.
There's a powerful storyline here, too, about the realities of documentation and how, growing up, Christine did not understand why their aunt was unable to visit Mexico like they could.
Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa
Belle Hawkins is a wallflower and also the person who prefers to be beneath the mascot costume to keep herself at a distance. But it's senior year, and it's now or never. She decides to remove the head of her costume and proclaim her long-time crush on head cheerleader Regina Moreno.
Problem? Regina has a girlfriend named Chloe Kitagawa.
Chloe is not doing great in English class, though, and Hawkins thinks this is her opportunity: offer to tutor Chloe in order to get closer to Regina. It seems to be going okay, until the moment that Hawkins and Chloe realize they know each other from their youth, when they were both very different people.
There is love here, but...it might be surprising where it happens.
Firebird by Sunmi
If you're in the mood for a queer Asian American romance told through a gorgeous two-color palate, you're in luck.
Caroline Kim isn't loving sophomore year, but that starts to change when she is given the opportunity to tutor a senior named Kimberly Park-Ocampo. Kim is everything Caroline wishes she could be: comfortable in her sexuality and popular among both the rich kids and the "not cool" kids.
Their tutoring becomes more than that quickly. They're hanging out all of the time. So what happens when it begins to feel like more than a friendship? Is this worth pursuing, or is it better kept at bay?
The Hills of Estrella Roja by Ashley Robin Franklin
Kat Fields is a college freshman with a podcast that explores paranormal happenings in Texas. When she gets an email urging her to go investigate mystery lights in Estrella Roja, that's what she decides she'll do on her spring break.
Marisol “Mari” Castillo is heading to Estrella Roja, too, but she's going for her abuela's funeral. Mari doesn't know anyone in town, and her family has no other ties to it. So, a chance meeting with Kat at a local diner convinces her to help Kat with her show.
Together, they find each other unraveling secrets not only about the town's mysteries but about one another.
Hirano and Kagiura, Vol. 1. & Vol. 2 by Shou Harusono
Akira Kagiura is going to marry his roommate, the “bad boy” Taiga Hirano. Now Kagi has to do the impossible to make it all work out: tell Hirano his real feelings.
Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki
In high school, Chika felt like a complete outsider, alien even, as she watched friends and classmates find crushes and love and romance. She never experienced any of that, and her friends convinced her it was because she had not met the right person yet. But when Chika begins college and meets several people who have felt the way she does, her coming-of-asexuality and coming-of-aromanticism begins. Perhaps she’s no outsider at all.
Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story by Sarah Myer
I've been around YA long enough to know how rare adoption stories were — and still are — and then to remember discussions of how few transracial adoption stories exist — and how few still exist. But we have gotten better, and we're seeing more representation on this front from those who experienced transracial adoption.
Myer's work is a graphic memoir about growing up as a Korean adoptee to white parents. It's a story of feeling like never fitting in and always being stared at, but through a passion for fandom and art, she found a community and understanding of herself.
This looks fantastic, and I am excited to dive into it.
Book Riot has podcasts to keep your ears listening for days! Check them out and subscribe.
Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo
Sixteen-year-old Cade is in the closet because he has to be; he is a Latino living in rural Texas. His escape is horror movies.
This summer, he's working at a local ranch to help make ends meet at home. He hates it, though, save for the two teens who live on that ranch. Especially the very attractive Henry.
The two start to become closer over the summer, but Henry is dodgy about a lot of things, including his mother's death. Cade worries there might be more that his crush isn't telling him.
This is inspired by, as you might guess by the title, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. It is romantic and gothic and queer as heck.
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
If you like a good cheese pun, this one is gouda. Lady Camembert cannot inherit anything if she doesn’t marry a man, but that is not of interest to her at all. So when her father dies, she decides to take her life into her own hands: she’s moving to the capital Kingdom of Fromage and disguising herself as Count Camembert. It is not easy for her to keep herself under wraps, though, especially as she begins to fall for the fierce fashionista Lady Brie. But when the two become closer, how will Count—err, Lady—Camembert keep her secret? This is a fun rom-com, and the book was a recent book club pick for the When In Romance podcast.
Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton, illustrated with Aśka
Maisie is attending her first fan convention, and she is stoked to meet one of the heroes of her favorite superhero show. That hero, like her, has a lower leg amputation.
But what Maisie does not anticipate is meeting a cute volunteer at the event named Ollie. As the day goes on, Maisie is unable to stop thinking about how much she is falling for Ollie and how that meeting might be the surprise she did not know she needed.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Thanks for hanging out, and I’ll see you again soon.
Until then, happy reading!
– Kelly Jensen, currently reading the YA lesbian classic Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden