FROM PANEL TO PANEL • September-ish Graphic Novels for Kids and Teens!

I love comics and graphic novels, so what do I do with that love? Well, I turn it into a new feature!

From Panel to Panel is a new feature where I talk about the awesome (and perhaps not-so awesome) comic books and graphic novels I’ve read. Basically, this will be me pushing them onto your laps. You’re welcome.

I’ve come across a lot of graphic novels that parents have been asking for their kids, and September was THE month of holy grails. The big titles were Guts, Best Friends, and The Baby-Sitter’s Club #7: Boy-Crazy Stacey. Kids can’t get enough of these authors, and I love that Raina Telgemeier and The Baby-Sitter’s Club series continues to captivate readers. Not only do we have those popular graphic novels, there are great titles like Stargazing and The Crossover that I’ve been pushing to any kid and adult.

Let’s check out what graphic novels were released in September for kids and teens!

KIDS

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• Best Friends by Shannon Hale and Luyen Pham

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[spoiler title=”What is Best Friends about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Follow your heart. Find your people.

Sixth grade is supposed to be perfect. Shannon’s got a sure spot in the in-crowd called The Group, and her best friend is their leader, Jen, the most popular girl in school.

But the rules are always changing, and Shannon has to scramble to keep up. She never knows which TV shows are cool, what songs to listen to, and who she’s allowed to talk to. Who makes these rules, anyway? And does Shannon have to follow them?[/spoiler]

• CatStronauts: Slapdash Science by Drew Brockington

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[spoiler title=”What is CatStronauts: Slapdash Science about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]In the fifth book in the CatStronauts graphic novel series, Pom Pom pushes her experiments to the limit on the International Space Station, while the cats at Mission Control take a much needed break. What could possibly go wrong?

While the cats are away, the other cats will play! Flight Director Maisy is off on her first vacation in years, and World’s Best Scientist is looking for a secret vacation of his own. But while the party picks up on Earth, the CatStronauts are trying to get all of their work on the International Space Station done in record time. So when disaster strikes in space, the CatStronauts will have to fix everything without their trusty support team at Mission Control.[/spoiler]

• Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

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[spoiler title=”What is Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Jack and Lilly are no strangers to heroics. They’ve befriended dragons, battled giants, and even earned the loyalty of a goblin army. So when they meet Zita the Spacegirl, fresh from her interplanetary travels and seeking their help to face a new threat, they’re more than ready for another adventure.

But the danger growing just outside the door to their world is greater than anything the new friends could have imagined. An army of giants and screeds stands ready to lay siege to Earth, determined to put the age of humans to an end.

With the gate between worlds growing weaker and time running out, can the heroes come together to save their world from their greatest enemy yet?[/spoiler]

• Big Nate: Hug It Out! by Lincoln Peirce

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[spoiler title=”What is Big Nate: Hug It Out! about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Sixth grade is no picnic for Nate Wright. His pal Francis won’t stop bombarding him with useless trivia. A wild pitch knocks him out of a ballgame and into the emergency room. And the only thing standing between Nate and summer school is a study session with the worst possible tutor: his too-obnoxious-for-words arch enemy, Gina. But a chance encounter on an amusement park ride could change everything.

Meanwhile, the troubles are piling up in this hilarious new collection of Big Nate comics, and there may be only one thing for Nate to do: HUG IT OUT!

In this brand-new collection of comics from the New York Times bestselling series Big Nate, everyone’s favorite sixth-grade prankster is back for more hilarious misadventures — and even a little romance![/spoiler]

• The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

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[spoiler title=”What is The Okay Witch about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Magic is harder than it looks.

Thirteen-year-old Moth Hush loves all things witchy. But she’s about to discover that witches aren’t just the stuff of movies, books, and spooky stories. When some eighth-grade bullies try to ruin her Halloween, something really strange happens. It turns out that Founder’s Bluff, Massachusetts, has a centuries-old history of witch drama. And, surprise: Moth’s family is at the center of it all! When Moth’s new powers show up, things get totally out-of-control. She meets a talking cat, falls into an enchanted diary, and unlocks a hidden witch world. Secrets surface from generations past as Moth unravels the complicated legacy at the heart of her town, her family, and herself.[/spoiler]

• Superman of Smallville by Art Baltazar and Franco (Tiny Titans)
  

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[spoiler title=”What is Superman of Smallville about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”] Can Superman keep Smallville from going to the dogs?

Acts of awesomeness are happening around town. People are being rescued, runaway tractors stopped, and fires extinguished. This is all in a day’s work for the hero known only as “Superman.” But who is he, really?

Thirteen-year-old Clark Kent knows. He has a super-secret—one his parents are constantly worried will get out. Clark promises to be extra careful, but when random objects begin to take flight and disappear, his parents threaten to ground him. Except he’s innocent! If Superman isn’t responsible…who is? Join Clark in this hilarious adventure as he sniffs out the real culprit.

From New York Times–bestselling and Eisner Award-winning creators Art Baltazar and Franco, comes a fun, whimsical story featuring young Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, and of course Clark Kent.[/spoiler] [lightbox src=”http://www.thenovelhermit.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/sept19-gn-kids2.png”][/lightbox]

• Boy-Crazy Stacey (The Baby-Sitters Club #7) by Ann M. Martin & Gale Galligan

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[spoiler title=”What is Boy-Crazy Stacey  about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Stacey and Mary Anne are baby-sitting for the Pike family for two weeks at the New Jersey shore. Things are great in Sea City: There’s a gorgeous house right on the beach, a boardwalk, plenty of sun and sand… and the cutest boy Stacey has ever seen!

Mary Anne thinks that Stacey should leave Scott alone and focus on the Pike kids, but Stacey’s in love. Looking for reasons to hang around his lifeguard stand takes up all of her time, which means Mary Anne has to do the job of two baby-sitters. Mary Anne doesn’t like it one bit! How can she tell Stacey that Scott just isn’t interested without ruining their friendship and breaking Stacey’s heart?[/spoiler]

• AstroNuts Mission One: The Plant Planet by Jon Scieszka & Steven Weinberg

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[spoiler title=”What is AstroNuts Mission One: The Plant Planet about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]AstroWolf, LaserShark, SmartHawk, and StinkBug are animals that have been hybridized to find other planets for humans to live on once we’ve ruined Earth. So off they rocket to the Plant Planet! Will that planet support human life? Or do Plant Planet’s inhabitants have a more sinister plan?[/spoiler]

• The Knights of Mars (Castle in the Stars #3) by Alex Alice

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[spoiler title=”What is The Knights of Mars about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]What if man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969? In The Knights of Mars, the third volume in this breath-taking fantasy graphic novel series, Alex Alice draws on Jules Verne and nineteenth-century romanticism to create a watercolor world of adventure and wonder to enchant adults and younger readers alike.

When Seraphin, Hans, and Sophie returned from their voyage to the moon, they didn’t come home empty-handed—they brought with them aetherite, a miraculous substance that defies gravity! To keep their secret safe from the Prussians, the trio lives in hiding on a remote island in Brittany. Meanwhile, Seraphin’s father has founded the International Society of Aether, a group of scientists dedicated to the peaceful pursuit of space exploration. But on the eve of their inaugural meeting, he vanishes without a trace!

The Knights of Aether’s last hope lies in a daring rescue of King Ludwig and Professor Dulac. They will find them on the farthest outskirts of the Prussian empire—the planet Mars![/spoiler]

• The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story by Silvia Vecchini & Sualzo

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[spoiler title=”What is The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Matteo, Guilia, and Federico have ordinary lives: they spend time with friends, help out their families, go to school, and deal with the many mood swings that come with growing up. Then, in a single night, everything changes. The ground shakes. An earthquake devastates their town and their security. But after everything is gone, life must go on. Anger and fear affect everyone in the community, but each of them must find a way to begin again. In the aftermath, the roots for stronger friendships can be laid amid the rubble. This graphic novel provides a look at how natural disaster can strike and forever change a community.[/spoiler]

• Stargazing by Jen Wang
  

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[spoiler title=”What is Stargazing about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Moon is everything Christine isn’t. She’s confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known.

When Moon’s family moves in next door to Christine’s, Moon goes from unlikely friend to best friend―maybe even the perfect friend. The girls share their favorite music videos, paint their toenails when Christine’s strict parents aren’t around, and make plans to enter the school talent show together. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she sometimes has visions of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. Who reassure her that earth isn’t where she really belongs.

But when they’re least expecting it, catastrophe strikes. After relying on Moon for everything, can Christine find it in herself to be the friend Moon needs?

New York Times–bestselling author-illustrator Jen Wang draws on her childhood to paint a deeply personal yet wholly relatable friendship story that’s at turns joyful, heart-wrenching, and full of hope[/spoiler]

• Hilda and The Mountain King by Luke Pearson
  

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[spoiler title=”What is Hilda and the Mountain King about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]The newest book in the beloved Hilda series continues the action-packed adventures with our beloved Hilda stuck in the body of a troll trying to save all of human and troll-kind! Hilda and the Mountain King takes off from the cliff hanger in Hilda and the Stone Forest that left you waiting breathlessly!

We rejoin our heroine for her latest adventure just as she awakes to find herself in the body of a troll! Her mother is worried sick, and is perplexed by the strange creature that seems to have taken Hilda’s place. Now, both of them are in a race to be reunited before Ahlberg and his safety patrol get the chance to use their new secret weapon to lay waste to the trolls, and Hilda along with them![/spoiler]

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• Stig & Tilde: Vanisher’s Island by Max De Radigues

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[spoiler title=”What is Stig & Tilde: Vanisher’s Island about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Keeping with a local tradition, Stig and Tilde hop on a dinghy and head to a desert island to survive alone without adult supervision. However, a unexpected detour leads them to the wrong island and it looks like it’s inhabited by something that isn’t too fond of guests.[/spoiler]

• Hearts and Minds (LifeFormed #2) by Matt Mair Lowery & Cassie Anderson

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[spoiler title=”What is Lifeformed: Hearts and Minds about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Cleo, orphaned in the wake of an alien invasion, left behind the life she knew to fight for the future of Earth. Now she and Alex, the shapeshifting rebel alien posing as her father, make a fearsome team in a guerrilla war against the invaders. But Cleo’s past is about to come back to haunt her: An adversary she thought she’d seen the last of is out for revenge, determined to ruin Cleo’s life and destroy the trusting relationship Cleo has built with her alien “dad.”

Lifeformed: Hearts and Minds is the second installment in the sci-fi thriller series from Matt Mair Lowery and Cassie Anderson.[/spoiler]

• It’s Me, Two (Catwad #2) by Jim Benton

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[spoiler title=”What is It’s Me, Two (Catwad #2) about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Catwad, the snarky blue furball with a funny take on just about everything, is BACK in this second graphic novel in an all-new series from New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton! New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton’s latest creation, Catwad, returns!

Catwad and Blurmp are back and ready for more adventures! In this newest collection of hilarious stories, the dynamic feline duo explore fine art, travel to an alternate reality where the world has become extraordinarily dumb, get into gaming, and more! From monsters under Blurmp’s bed to all the reasons you should NEVER eat salad, this newest volume of Catwad has something for everyone![/spoiler]

• The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill

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[spoiler title=”What is The Tea Dragon Festival about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.[/spoiler]

• Guts by Raina Telgemeier

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[spoiler title=”What is Guts about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it’s probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she’s dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina’s tummy trouble isn’t going away… and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What’s going on?[/spoiler]

• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander & Dawud Anyabwile

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[spoiler title=”What is The Crossover about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover is brought to life as a graphic novel with illustrations by Dawud Anyabwile.

“With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. ’Cuz tonight I’m delivering,” raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood—he’s got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it’s all on the line.

See the Bell family in a whole new light through Dawud Anyabwile’s illustrations as the brothers’ winning season unfolds, and the world as they know it begins to change.[/spoiler]

TEENS

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• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks

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[spoiler title=”What is Pumpkinheads about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

But this Halloween is different—Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if—instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut—they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .

What if their last shift was an adventure?

Beloved writer Rainbow Rowell and Eisner Award–winning artist Faith Erin Hicks have teamed up to create this tender and hilarious story about two irresistible teens discovering what it means to leave behind a place—and a person—with no regrets.[/spoiler]

• Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

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[spoiler title=”What is Are You Listening about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]Bea is on the run. And then, she runs into Lou.

This chance encounter sends them on a journey through West Texas, where strange things follow them wherever they go. The landscape morphs into an unsettling world, a mysterious cat joins them, and they are haunted by a group of threatening men. To stay safe, Bea and Lou must trust each other as they are driven to confront buried truths. The two women share their stories of loss and heartbreak—and a startling revelation about sexual assault—culminating in an exquisite example of human connection.[/spoiler]

• Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki (X-23, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me) and Steve Pugh (All New Invaders)

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[spoiler title=”What is Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”] With just five dollars and a knapsack to her name, fifteen-year-old Harleen Quinzel is sent to live in Gotham City. She’s not worried, though–she’s battled a lot of hard situations as a kid, and knows her determination and outspokenness will carry her through life in the most dangerous city in the world. And when Gotham’s finest drag queen, Mama, takes her in, it seems like Harley has finally found a place to grow into her most “true true” with new best friend Ivy at Gotham High.

But when Mama’s drag cabaret becomes the next victim in the wave of gentrification that’s taking over the neighborhood, Harley gets mad. She decides to turn her anger into action and is faced with two choices: join activist Ivy, who’s campaigning to make the neighborhood a better place to live, or join her anarchist friend Joker, who plans to take down Gotham one corporation at a time.[/spoiler]

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• The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 by Carly Usdin & Noah Hayes

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[spoiler title=”What is The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]When Charlie transfers to the Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, she struggles to find her feet, but winds up exactly where she belongs…in the school’s (terrible) basketball team.

As a transfer student to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, former sports star Charlie is struggling to find her classes, her dorm, and her place amongst a student body full of artists who seem to know exactly where they’re going. When the school’s barely-a-basketball-team unexpectedly attempts to recruit her, Charlie’s adamant that she’s left that life behind…until she’s won over by the charming team captain, Liv, and the ragtag crew she’s managed to assemble. And while Charlie may have left cut-throat competition in in the dust, sinking these hoops may be exactly what she needs to see the person she truly wants to be.

From Carly Usdin (Heavy Vinyl) and artist Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer, Goldie Vance) comes an ensemble comedy series that understands that it’s the person you are off the court that matters most.[/spoiler]

• No Ivy League by Hazel Newlevant

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[spoiler title=”What is No Ivy League about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]When 17-year-old Hazel takes a summer job clearing ivy from the forest in Portland, Oregon, the only plan is to earn some extra cash to put toward concert tickets. Homeschooled, affluent, and sheltered, Hazel soon finds that working side by side with at-risk teens leaves no room for comforting illusions of equality and understanding. This uncomfortable and compelling memoir is an important story of a teen’s awakening to the racial insularity of the upper class, the power of white privilege, and the hidden history of segregation in Portland.[/spoiler]

• Kriss: The Gift of Wrath by Ted Naifeh & Warren Wucinich

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[spoiler title=”What is Kriss: The Gift of Wrath about?” open=”yes” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]For fans of The Graveyard Book and Through the Woods comes a different kind of YA fantasy graphic novel, in which a teen boy’s search for his destiny leads him into darkness.

Lean, ghostly pale, and permanently grim-faced, Kriss has always been an outsider in his small village. Not even his adoptive parents love him. Only Anja, the blacksmith’s daughter, brings kindness and friendship into the life of the sullen teenager. But Kriss is haunted by dim memories of his true father, Erikk Iron Tooth, the king of Darkovia.

When Anja’s mother is killed by a wild sabercat from the far north, the young girl’s world is shattered, and Kriss determines to avenge her. Armed with only a pitchfork, the skinny teen sets out to kill the beast, only to learn that it’s actually a dark spirit from Darkovia, come to bring him his destiny. The spirit grants Kriss the power to vanquish the mightiest foes, and commands him to reclaim his father’s kingdom. But his gift of power comes with a price — uncontrollable rage. And leaving the village would mean leaving Anja, the only person who’s always been there for him. Kriss must choose between his destiny and Anja, who needs his friendship more than ever. But his growing power, and the fiery anger that comes with it, threatens to make the choice for him, and burn everything he holds dear.[/spoiler]

Are you excited about these graphic novels? Tell me which one you’re excited to read.