Take Five: February 2025 Middle Grade Graphic Novels

Someday I’ll get in trouble when someone will hear the stuff I mutter to myself behind my mask after they practically gag telling me how much they hate graphic novels. Graphic novels rules. Graphic novels are real books. Reading graphic novels is real reading. Consistent readers of this blog will be like, here she goes again. But honestly, almost nothing makes me more angry than adults dismissing an entire format of books. I would guess that maybe 20% of all the reading I do in a year is graphic novels. If you’re not giving them a chance, you are missing out (and way behind the times). And if you’re not allowing them in your classroom (or your home or whatever), you are doing kids a huge disservice. Let kids read what they like!

Here are five new graphic novels for February. I’ve read two and have the others in my library hold queue. Happy reading!

All descriptions from the publishers.

Sea Legs: A Graphic Novel (Sea Legs #1) by Jules Bakes, Niki Smith (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781338835861 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 02/04/2025, Ages 8-12)

Set sail for adventure! Dive in to this hilarious and moving middle grade graphic memoir about friendship, growing up, and life at sea.

Janey’s family is about to set sail for the adventure of a lifetime! The only problem? Janey must leave her school, her life, her best friend, the entire country behind for new adventures — coral reefs, colorful markets, and new cultures. Life at sea is exhilarating, but there’s a major downside: when you’re raising anchor every few days with sights on a new harbor, it’s almost impossible to make new friends.

Finally, Janey meets the cool and aloof Astrid — a fellow boat kid who’s equally starved for friendship. But Astrid can be a challenging friend to navigate, and beyond that, hurricane season has only just begun . . . .

At turns laugh-out-loud hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant, this stunning middle grade graphic memoir charts both the turbulence and joys of growing up.

How to Draw a Secret by Cindy Chang (ISBN-13: 9780358659655 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 02/04/2025, Ages 8-12)

For fans of Raina Telgemeier’s Sisters and Jen Wang’s Stargazing comes the empowering autobiographical story of a young Taiwanese American artist struggling to find her voice to save what matters most.

Twelve-year-old Cindy relishes drawing flawless images, but she is stumped by an art contest prompt: “What family means to me.” No one at school can know that Cindy’s dad moved back to Taiwan four years ago, so Cindy sketches out the perfect plan to draw the perfect picture while keeping her parents’ separation secret.

Then an unexpected trip to Taipei reveals devastating new secrets. Suddenly everything from Cindy’s art to her family is falling apart. With her dream of perfection in tatters, Cindy must figure out how to draw from her heart and share her secrets. But can she really reveal the truth, messy lines and all?

Space Chasers by Leland Melvin by Leland Melvin, Joe Caramagna, Alison Acton (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781250782762 Publisher: First Second Publication date: 02/04/2025, Ages 8-12)

When a team of brilliant kids-turned-astronauts find themselves in serious trouble in outer space, they must work together to get back home. This is the first book in an incredible middle-grade graphic novel series created by real life astronaut, Leland Melvin!

Launch into action in T-Minus 3, 2, 1…

When Tia Valor takes a test on a whim for an exclusive NASA program for middle schoolers, she never thought she’d pass. After all, she never really fit in at school. In fact, she’s been skipping school most days to work at her brother’s auto shop instead. But Leland Melvin, a famed astronaut, sees potential in Tia, and before she knows it, she’s part of a team of other talented kids training to launch to an advanced space station orbiting the earth. But the perils of space are unpredictable and Tia finds herself with only half her crew and no adults around to help. Now she must rely on her instincts and the quick thinking of her fellow kid astronauts to save the space station and their lives!

Created by real-life astronaut Leland Melvin, Eisner-Award nominated comic creator Joe Caramagna, and brought to brilliant life by Alison Acton, SPACE CHASERS is a space adventure like no other.

Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi (ISBN-13: 9780063355668 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 02/18/2025, Ages 8-12)

In a contemporary middle grade graphic novel debut that Gene Luen Yang calls “funny, endearing, and an intimate look at a Muslim family,” Almost Sunset follows a young Muslim American boy during Ramadan as he finds the balance between his family traditions and his secular middle school life. Perfect for fans of Swim Team and Chunky.

It’s almost sunset, and Hassan has been dreaming about eating since the sun came up. The month of Ramadan has begun, and not eating until sundown intensifies his already busy days full of homework, soccer, and gaming. And since his teachers and friends at school barely understand Ramadan and its traditions, it’s easier to just…not mention it.

As the month stretches on, Hassan’s family and community grow closer together. They wake up before sunrise every morning, feast when the sun goes down, and attend mosque in the evenings. Can Hassan balance it all during the hectic holy month—faith, tradition, school, and fun, too?

One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe by Dara Horn, Theo Ellsworth (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781324082132 Publisher: Norton Young Readers Publication date: 02/25/2025, Ages 8-12)

A lost afikoman a time-traveling talking goat, and a never-ending seder illuminate the meaning of Passover in Dara Horn’s hilariously deadpan graphic novel.A family sits at the Passover seder table, but cannot find their afikoman—the hidden matzah required to end the meal—and as a result, they are trapped at a seder that cannot end. Six months in, a wisecracking talking goat shows up at their door with bad news: Thousands of years of previous seders have accumulated underneath their seder, and their afikoman is stuck in one of them. Now the family’s “wise child” must travel down with the goat through centuries of previous Passovers to find it—and to discover the questions he needs to start asking.

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