An Ever-Growing Demand for Middle Grade Graphic Novels

Crowdfunding--the use of platforms such as Kickstarter to raise funding from fans online--has helped new creators enter the field as well, says Gina Gagliano, who left her position as marketing director at First Second in May to become publishing director of the new Random House Graphic imprint. Most middle grade graphic novels feature a varied cast of characters, whether in supporting roles or in the lead: the heroine of Vera Brosgol's Be Prepared struggles with her identity as the daughter of a Russian immigrant; Cece Bell's memoir El Deafo deals with her experiences as a deaf child going to hearing schools; the upcoming Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks features two female leads--one black, one white; and Alina Chau's Marshmallow and Jordan , due out in winter from First Second, is a story about a girl in a wheelchair competing in a basketball tournament. First Second introduced its Science Comics in 2016, and last year it announced a new series of Maker Comics that will debut in winter 2019. Telgemeier, in a recent Facebook post, made it clear that there's still plenty of room for more--and more diverse--graphic novels: "From the amount of fanmail I get that begs me to write a book about 'a kid who is _____,' I want to see more memoirs from creators who are LGTBQIA+, immigrants, bad at sports, differently abled, non-white, good at sports, neurodiverse, in school band, have pets, have divorced parents, have married parents, are only children, have siblings, step-siblings, half-siblings, have a physical or mental illness, speak different languages, practice religion, don't believe in religion, wear a corrective device...