Don't Miss Lists and Other Reading Resources

Graphic Novel Biographies and Memoirs

Below is a listing of several graphic novel biographies and memoirs exploring such varying themes as: coming- of-age, GLBTQ issues, war and wartime, aging and disease, civil rights activism, and the common everyday worker. While some of these graphic novels tell the story of such famous historical people as Emma Goldman, Martin Luther King, and Leo Trotsky, many of the books are firsthand accounts of the actual writer/artist at some pivotal point in their life story. By combining text with illustration, these personal accounts provide for a uniquely engaging and intimate reading experience. Explore the diversity of subject matter within this ever expanding genre!

(Ask your librarian where the Graphic Novels section is in your library.)

ALEC: The Years Have Pants by Eddie Campbell

American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar by Harvey Pekar

Awkward and Definiton: The High School Chronicles of Ariel Schrag by Ariel Schrag

Blankets by Craig Thompson

The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude: A Memoir by Carol Lay

A Child's Life and Other Stories by Phoebe Gloeckner

The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman

A Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman by Sharon Rudahl

Epileptic by B. David

Everyday Matters: A New York Diary by Gregory Danny

A Few Perfect Hours and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe by Josh Neufeld