Graphic Novel | Queer Books for Teens

Kim Reaper, Vol. 2: Vampire Island

By Sarah Graley

College relationships are tough for everyone, but they’re extra hard for Kim. Her grumpy grim reaper bosses are always making her work overtime, her girlfriend Becka’s roommate keeps hanging around, and for some reason, she’s going on an awkward group date to Vampire Island! But when she stumbles into a long-lost friend, Kim accidentally finds herself in the middle of a vampire grudge, plus a new strain on her relationship. Surely she can figure out how to study, be a good girlfriend, maintain her social life, and still pay rent? She just might need a little help.

Representation: Becka is in an f/f romance with Kim; nonbinary side character.

Ownvoices: queer representation.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

By Mariko Tamaki

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it’s really Laura Dean that’s the problem. Maybe it’s Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever.

Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

Representation: East Asian lesbian MC; Black, queer & lesbian side characters.

Ownvoices: for Asian and queer presentation.

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars

By Michael Dante DiMartino

After a refreshing sojourn in the Spirit World, Korra and Asami return to Republic City but find nothing but political hijinks and human vs. spirit conflict! Pompous developer Wonyong Keum plans to turn the new spirit portal into an amusement park, potentially severing an already tumultuous connection with the spirits. At the city’s edge, Zhu Li enlists everyone she can to aid the thousands of hungry and homeless evacuees who have relocated there. Meanwhile, the Triple Threats’ ruthless new leader, Tokuga, is determined to unite the other triads under his rule, no matter the cost.

Collects The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Parts One, Two, and Three.

Representation: bisexual MCs; lesbian side character.

Ownvoices: Illustrator is bisexual.

The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire

By Michael Dante DiMartino

To secure lasting peace for the Earth Kingdom, Korra must trust an unlikely ally!

On the eve of its first elections, the Earth Kingdom’s future is endangered by its past. As Kuvira works to reclaim her honor, the devious commander Guan undermines the peace Avatar Korra has established to take power for himself. Korra and Kuvira must learn to work together to ensure the future of the Earth Kingdom.

Collects The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Part One, Two, and Three.

Representation: bisexual MCs.

The Lonesome Era

By Jon Allen

Cute animal characters tell the tale of an awkward, coming-of-age, unreciprocated queer crush in Rust Belt America.

Camden is a cat! Camden is also crushing hard on his best buddy and terrible influence, Jeremiah. Young, bored, and trapped in their slowly decomposing Rust Belt town, Camden tamps down his burgeoning feelings for the local ne’er-do-well and allows himself to be dragged along with every awful idea, every hair-brained plan, and every threat to life and limb Jeremiah can come up with. The cartoon cast belies the ever-increasing volume of stupid and dangerous risk-taking Camden allows himself to be swept up into, endangering life, limb, and reputation. How much longer can this go on?

Representation: gay MC.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy

By Rey Terciero

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are having a really tough year: with their father serving in the military overseas, they must work overtime to make ends meet…and each girl is struggling in her own way. Whether it’s school woes, health issues, boy troubles, or simply feeling lost, the March sisters all need the same thing: support from each other. Only by coming together–and sharing lots of laughs and tears–will these four young women find the courage to discover who they truly are as individuals…and as a family.

Meg is the eldest March, and she has a taste for the finer things in life. She dreams of marrying rich, enjoying fabulous clothes and parties, and leaving her five-floor walk-up apartment behind.

Jo pushes her siblings to be true to themselves, yet feels like no one will accept her for who she truly is. Her passion for writing gives her an outlet to feel worthy in the eyes of her friends and family.

Beth is the shy sister with a voice begging to be heard. But with a guitar in hand, she finds a courage that inspires her siblings to seize the day and not take life for granted.

Amy may be the baby of the family, but she has the biggest personality. Though she loves to fight with her sisters, her tough exterior protects a vulnerable heart that worries about her family’s future.

Representation: Jo is gay. Black, Latinx, white, and biracial characters.

Stage Dreams

By Melanie Gillman

In this rollicking queer western adventure, acclaimed cartoonist Melanie Gillman (Stonewall Award Honor Book As the Crow Flies) puts readers in the saddle alongside Flor and Grace, a Latinx outlaw and a trans runaway, as they team up to thwart a Confederate plot in the New Mexico Territory. When Flor–also known as the notorious Ghost Hawk–robs the stagecoach that Grace has used to escape her Georgia home, the first thing on her mind is ransom. But when the two get to talking about Flor’s plan to crash a Confederate gala and steal some crucial documents, Grace convinces Flor to let her join the heist.

Representation: Latinx sapphic MC and trans girl love interest.

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 2

By Coma Hashii Okura

High school senior Noshiro has finally broken down the emotional walls that his gay classmate, Sanada, had put up, and their new friendship is growing. But when Sanada’s childhood friend Ayumi reveals that she’s always liked him, and new student Makoto arrives on the scene with a crush of his own, their situation gets even more complicated.

Representation: one gay MC, a gay side character.

The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms

By Nagabe

Deep in the forest lies a mysterious school of magic: Wizdoms, an institution attended by beastmen of all kinds. These studious fantasy creatures have come to live, learn, and perhaps even fall in love in this enchanting space. In this collection of stories by master mangaka Nagabe, follow the beauty and surprising humor of magical beasts with human hearts.

Representation: gay characters.

b. b. free #1

By Gabby Rivera

b.b. free broadcasts her underground radio show from her remote swamp community, and she has no idea she’s actually the chosen one. It’s been over a hundred years since the Plague That Ate Greed wiped out half the population, and it’s the only world that b.b. has ever known. But when b.b. rebels against her overbearing father, she realizes that everything she believes in could be a lie. On the run from her own family, b.b. will learn the truth about the world she lives in, and about the power she never knew she had.

Representation: possibly queer Latinx MC.

Ownvoices: author is queer and Latinx.

Note: series is ongoing.