Graphic Novels We Love 2020
This list of notable kids, teen, and adult graphic novels published in 2020 was selected by staff at The Seattle Public Library. Annotations from Publishers Weekly unless otherwise noted. (Created Dec. 2020)
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Catherine's War
(KIDS GRAPHIC NOVEL) Billet's emotive historical graphic novel portrays a Jewish girl forced to hide her identity during the Nazi occupation of France.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Solutions and Other Problems
(ADULT GRAPHIC NOVEL) Brosh follows up bestseller Hyperbole and a Half with a gut-busting volume of autobio comics. Her wobbly, wall-eyed avatar regards the world with bafflement as she hurls herself into one bizarre situation after another.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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We Served the People
(ADULT GRAPHIC NOVEL) A daughter depicts her mother's oral history of life in China in the 1960s and '70s in this educational and inspiring portrait of perseverance.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: All copies in use
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Dancing After TEN
(ADULT GRAPHIC NOVEL) A prime example of the graphic medicine genre, which illustrates medical conditions, often through lived experience, this work is engaging and informative but never feels teachy or preachy.--Library Journal
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Class Act
(KIDS GRAPHIC NOVEL) In this companion to Newbery winner New Kid, eighth grader Drew Ellis embarks on a turbulent second year at the prestigious Riverdale Academy Day School in the Bronx alongside best friends Jordan Banks and Liam Landers.
Format: Book
Availability: No Longer Available
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Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower
(ADULT GRAPHIC NOVEL) This nimble graphic adaptation of Butler's 1993 novel of capitalism-ravaged California feels alarmingly prescient and relevant. Duffy and Jennings (Kindred) skillfully rework the tale told through the eyes of teenage empath Lauren Oya Olamina, who navigates a world transformed by drought, gun violence, and exploitation.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Dancing at the Pity Party
(TEEN GRAPHIC NOVEL) After the author's mother dies of uterine cancer when her oldest daughter is 19, Feder (Unladylike for adults) finds herself longing for something "that cradles my grief without smothering it."
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Almost American Girl
(TEEN GRAPHIC NOVEL) In her YA debut, adult author Ha (Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes) creates a graphic novel memoir about a girl's transition from Korea to America.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Displacement
(TEEN GRAPHIC NOVEL) Mixing fact and fiction in this autobiographical graphic novel, debut author Hughes follows a teen experiencing Japanese internment firsthand through time travel to the WWII era.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: All copies in use
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When Stars Are Scattered
(KIDS GRAPHIC NOVEL) Based on coauthor Mohamed's childhood after fleeing Somalia on foot with his younger brother, this affecting graphic novel follows the brothers' life in a Kenyan refugee camp.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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