I came relatively late to graphic novels; when I was growing up in the ’90s, no teacher or librarian ever recommended one to me, and it wasn’t until I took a course on graphic novels in library school that I really understood what made these books so special. I’m a bit envious of today’s kids, growing up with access to so many wonderful works of graphic literature. Every year, I’m bowled over by the new middle-grade offerings I see, and this year is no exception. These titles are among my favorites of 2023 so far; they’ll have children and adults alike spellbound.

Zach Weinersmith and Boulet’s Bea Wolf (First Second, March 21) is a modern-day retelling of Beowulf that recasts the protagonists as suburban children waging war against the forces of evil: teens and adults. The monster Grendel becomes Mr. Grindle, a cantankerous middle-aged man with the power to preternaturally age anyone he touches; our hero is Bea Wolf, a “flower-skirted fighter” with the strength of 60 kids in each hand. Weinersmith’s marvelously dramatic verse is matched beat for beat by Boulet’s grotesquely gorgeous artwork, and though the story is laugh-out-loud hilarious, it’s also threaded with a sense of sorrow for the fleeting nature of childhood.

Betty C. Tang’s Parachute Kids (Graphix/Scholastic, April 4) follows three kids who, in 1981, emigrate from Taiwan to the United States, where they must live on their own after their parents return home due to visa issues. Though Tang doesn’t gloss over the difficulties that the siblings encounter, her cheerful artwork makes their challenges feel manageable; this is a moving, forthright, yet ultimately uplifting look at the immigration experience.

Jerry Craft’s School Trip (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins, April 4) finds Jordan Banks at a crossroads as junior high comes to an end: Should he attend art school or stay at Riverdale Academy Day School? As one of the few Black students at RAD, Jordan once felt out of place, but he’s made good friends, and he faces a tough choice. A class trip to Paris is a much-needed distraction. Like New Kid (2019) and Class Act (2020), this installment includes plenty of visual gags and humorous excerpts from Jordan’s sketchbook, all of which make the more serious themes—the frustrations of marginalized students, mean-spirited Andy’s realization that he’s a bully—go down easy.

In Pedro Martín’s ’70s-set graphic memoir, Mexikid (Dial Books, Aug. 1), a trip south of the border proves eye-opening. Born in the U.S., young Pedro has never felt as strong a connection to Mexico as his parents and older siblings, who were born there, but that changes on this journey, especially as he grows closer to his abuelito. Accompanied by charming, retro-style illustrations, this is a heartfelt ode to family and culture.

In Noah Van Sciver and Marlena Myles’ Paul Bunyan: The Invention of an American Legend (Toon Books/Astra Books for Young Readers, Aug. 8), a timber marketing executive traveling through Minnesota by train regales his fellow passengers with stories of the famed lumberjack. As the tales get taller, skeptics question him until the myth of Paul Bunyan is finally revealed to be a marketing ploy that conceals darker truths about the theft of land from Indigenous peoples. That Bunyan is the spitting image of the timber exec drives home the point even further. Thoughtful backmatter expands on the historical erasure of Indigenous perspectives and will leave readers eager for more history texts that center marginalized voices.

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.