swap_horiz Smile Alternatives

1

Fun Home

Fun Home is a 2006 graphic memoir by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, exploring her complex relationship with her fat...

Family Lgbtq+ Memoir Autobiographical

9.0 Excellent

2

The Arab of the Future

Created by French cartoonist Riad Sattouf in 2014, this autobiographical graphic novel series chronicles the author's ch...

Memoir Childhood Metropolitan Books Riad Sattouf

8.9 Great

3

Bone: Out from Boneville

The first volume of Jeff Smith's epic fantasy comic series following the Bone cousins' exile from Boneville into a myste...

Fantasy Classic Scholastic All Ages

8.8 Great

4

American Splendor

American Splendor is an autobiographical comic series created by Harvey Pekar in 1976, celebrated for its mundane yet pr...

Slice Of Life Memoir Working Class Dark Horse

8.6 Great

5

It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken

Published in 1996 by Canadian cartoonist Seth, this graphic novel follows a man's obsessive search for an obscure mid-ce...

Nostalgia Literary Memoir Drawn And Quarterly

8.6 Great

6

The Best We Could Do

A graphic memoir by Thi Bui tracing her family's flight from Vietnam as refugees and their resettlement in the United St...

Immigrant Vietnamese Memoir Thi Bui

8.5 Great

7

El Deafo

El Deafo is a 2014 autobiographical graphic novel by Cece Bell that explores her childhood experiences with hearing loss...

Hearing Loss Memoir Middle Grade Cece Bell

8.3 Great

8

Stuck Rubber Baby

Stuck Rubber Baby is a 1995 graphic novel by Howard Cruse exploring the intersecting struggles of homophobia and racism...

Lgbtq+ Memoir Civil Rights DC Vertigo

8.3 Great

9

Kampung Boy

An autobiographical graphic novel by Lat depicting childhood in a Malaysian village, one of Malaysia's most beloved and...

Coming Of Age Memoir Malaysian First Second

8.3 Great

10

Hey Kiddo

A graphic memoir by Jarrett J. Krosoczka about being raised by grandparents due to his mother's heroin addiction, a 2018...

Family Memoir Middle Grade Jarrett J Krosoczka

8.3 Great

11

New Kid

New Kid is a 2019 middle-grade graphic novel by Jerry Craft that won the Newbery Medal, depicting a Black student's life...

School Race Middle Grade Jerry Craft

8.1 Great

12

In the Shadow of No Towers

A 2004 comic strip collection by Art Spiegelman reflecting his personal trauma and political anxiety following the Septe...

Political Memoir Pantheon Art Spiegelman

8.1 Great

13

Town Boy

The sequel to Lat's Kampung Boy, continuing his autobiographical account of adolescence in a Malaysian town and his grow...

Coming Of Age Memoir Malaysian First Second

8.0 Great

14

When Stars Are Scattered

A graphic novel by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed recounting Mohamed's childhood as a Somali refugee in a Kenyan ref...

Refugee Middle Grade Victoria Jamieson Dial Books

8.0 Great

15

Why I Killed Peter

Created by Olivier Ka and Alfred, this 2008 autobiographical graphic novel details the author's traumatic childhood expe...

French Memoir Religion Olivier Ka

7.8 Good

16

Displacement

A graphic novel by Kiku Hughes about a biracial teenager who time-travels to experience her grandmother's WWII Japanese...

Time Travel Young Adult Scholastic Kiku Hughes

7.8 Good

17

Drama

Drama is a 2012 young adult graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier that follows a middle school theater crew navigating crush...

Theater Lgbtq+ Scholastic Raina Telgemeier

7.7 Good

18

Roller Girl

Roller Girl is a 2015 graphic novel by Victoria Jamieson about a tween girl who joins a roller derby league while naviga...

Friendship Derby Middle Grade Victoria Jamieson

7.7 Good

19

Guts

Guts is a 2019 autobiographical graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier detailing her childhood struggles with anxiety and a p...

Anxiety Memoir Scholastic Raina Telgemeier

7.5 Good

20

Amulet

Amulet is an ongoing fantasy graphic novel series created by Kazu Kibuishi in 2008, following two siblings who discover...

Fantasy Adventure Scholastic Middle Grade

7.5 Good