The Best Graphic Novels of 2026 (So Far)

This horror mystery kept me guessing throughout. I especially love how the limited color palette adds to the atmosphere and how the people around Kira, a young woman searching for answers about her mother’s murder, are far more complex than expected. A complex and thought-provoking story in every way!

Maia Kobabe (genderqueer) eir makes his middle grade debut with this stunning graphic novel co-written/illustrated by Lucky Srikumar. The film tackles gender identity, menarche, unrequited love, and the feelings in between that are common among middle schoolers. Saatchi, an Indian-American girl, and her seventh-grade friends are excited about dating, but the changes that occur during adolescence and middle school make Saatchi nervous. She wants to get out of the mess, please! There are very few middle grade novels that deal with adolescence through a non-binary lens. It’s a much-needed perspective on a difficult time for many children, at a time when LGBTQ+ books are disappearing from children’s books. —Margaret Kingsbury

Attacks on books have accelerated over the past five years, but they did not begin with the Trump administration or the rise of censorship by the MAGA movement in the name of false morality. This YA graphic novel centers around the 2013 Prohibition. persepolis Student anger and subsequent weeks of protests erupted in Chicago Public Schools. Dapier shifts deftly between teenage perspectives, portraying super-smart and complex kids as they battle censorship, deal with personal anxieties, and find ways of protest that speak to them as individuals, from writing essays to leading sit-ins. This is a very empowering and compassionate read. —Margaret Kingsbury