Graphic novels for young girls

November 28, 2012 3:16 AM

Please recommend graphic novels for two very bright girls, aged 7 and 9. I'm looking for Wolves of Willoughby Chase type stories full of plucky lasses showing courage and resourcefulness. They liked Polly and the Pirates and Zita the Space Girl, but there aren't enough of them. I'd prefer things that are well drawn.
posted by Joe in Australia to shopping (22 answers total)

It's a one off, rather than a series and you may have already read the book but Neil Gaiman's Coraline has been released as a Graphic Novel, illustrated by P. Craig-Russell and Coraline is definitely a plucky and resourceful girl.
posted by halcyonday at 3:28 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

My daughter liked the first Amulet graphic novel, although she said it was "a bit depressing". I shall be interested to see what else is out there though.
posted by crocomancer at 3:44 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

How about Hildafolk?

See also Hilda and the Midnight Giant, and Hilda and the Bird Parade.

There are a bunch of other Nobrow-published books for kids that look really beautiful.
posted by ZipRibbons at 4:31 AM on November 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is a great resource for you, breaking down recommended graphic novels into age groups (I'm acquainted with the editor).

There's also a new graphic-novel version of A Wrinkle In Time that I'm tempted to pick up for my 40-year-old self.
posted by mkultra at 4:35 AM on November 28, 2012

I really enjoyed Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword recently. It had a fun, slightly fantasy angle, plus it teaches you all kinds of interesting stuff about what being an Orthodox Jewish person is all about. Also, they can pick up some Yiddish, which kids are usually really in to!
posted by itsamermaid at 4:39 AM on November 28, 2012

It's not adventure, more slice of life, but I really liked "Yotsuba&!"
posted by clerestory at 4:43 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

My 8 1/2 year old daughter has absolutely LOVED Spera since it came out. She and her best friend "play" it whenever they're together, and love nothing more than when I take them to a woody area so they can really run around and imagine being in that world. There are online comics published, and Volume II is coming soon. Through Spera, she's explored all the artists in it and their work.

Here is my previous question, which may help, and thanks to a kind MeFite, she loves Akiko. She's read most everything suggested in that Ask by now, and is currently enjoying Courtney Crumrin the most.
posted by peagood at 4:54 AM on November 28, 2012

We've had good luck with The Girl Who Owned A City's book-to-graphic-novel adaptation. A virus wipes out everyone on earth over the age of 12, and the kids must figure out how to survive. Plucky ten year old girl figures out not just how to scavenge enough to subsist, but how to thrive, along with the other kids from her block.
posted by corb at 4:56 AM on November 28, 2012

(I don't know how The Girl Who Owned A City's graphic novelization plays out, but you might want to check - the book is a straight-up libertarian parable. I grew up right next to where it's set, the author was local, I read it a ton of times as a kid because it's very, very gripping (despite the goofy science) but toward the end the characters articulate some really creepy ideas and there's a really anti-city (Chicago) bias which is not explicitly racist but which I think draws on racist fears. I hope they've fixed all that because there was much that was compelling in the story. OTOH, the libertarian stuff bugged me even as I kid and I grew up vigorously against libertarianism, so maybe it doesn't work well as propaganda.)
posted by Frowner at 5:20 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

Card Captor Sakura.
posted by Hanuman1960 at 5:22 AM on November 28, 2012

- Sardine in Outer Space!

- Castle Waiting!
posted by jammy at 5:34 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

I hope they've fixed all that because there was much that was compelling in the story.

I don't remember some of that in the original book as a kid, but I can definitely say that there wasn't any racism or implied racism in the graphic novel, and from what I do recall, it was pretty multi-ethnic. I didn't notice an anti-city bias - actually perhaps an anti-primitivist bias, as the people who run off by themselves to farm alone are looked poorly on.

There is a bit of a libertarian edge - Lisa (the girl) insists that everyone on her block has to work together if she is going to share the location of the warehouses with food she has found, and there's a strong self-reliance edge which goes along. But it didn't seem excessive. My partner is a syndicalist, and we both have veto power over any literature coming in if it seems excessively political, and it passed muster.
posted by corb at 5:48 AM on November 28, 2012

I'll second Courtney Crumrin.
posted by mean cheez at 5:49 AM on November 28, 2012

Good Comics For Kids has a graphic novel section that should help you out greatly.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 5:51 AM on November 28, 2012

Giants Beware!
posted by PaulaSchultz at 6:21 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

Seconding Castle Waiting!
posted by apricot at 7:02 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

Good thread!

No time to make links right now but Lunch Lady, Bone, Baby Mouse, Squish are popular. Some of the cartoon history and science type books are good too.
posted by latkes at 7:12 AM on November 28, 2012

Girl Genius is like the exact perfect fit here, and I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet.
posted by Slinga at 8:20 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

Castle Waiting is good but FYI it does contain some very difficult concepts (primarily domestic abuse) which emerge later in the plot.

+ Girl Genius.

I haven't read it, but Amelia Rules! might fit your bill.
posted by epanalepsis at 9:56 AM on November 28, 2012

Have they read Bink & Gollie? It's three illustrated stories about two good friends. A second book came out earlier this year, and a third is expected in April. My daughter loves them.
posted by mogget at 11:15 AM on November 28, 2012

umm, Hugo Cabret, the book?
Also, tho perhaps a touch early, Persepolis? (My kids found the film unforgettable.)
posted by progosk at 11:40 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook.
posted by Dynex at 2:37 PM on November 30, 2012