Enjoy a new twist on classic novels with graphic novel adaptations! Try reading both the original text and the graphic novel to see how they compare. 

(All summaries are from the publishers. Staff picks are chosen by CCPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We’d love to hear your ideas too, so write to us and tell us what you’d recommend!)

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo

Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

The story of the March family, four daughters and a strong mother who, because her husband is away serving in the Army during the Civil War, must raise her “little women” on her own. The daughters include: spirited Jo who longs for a career as a writer; beautiful and conservative older sister Meg; fragile Beth; and the romantic Amy. Through the years, as they become women, the sisters share their most cherished and painful moments of self-discovery as their mother’s pride and strength guide them through questions of independence, romance and virtue.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel by Harper Lee and Fred Fordham 

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many distinctions since its original publication in 1960. It tells the tale of the explosion of racial hate in an Alabama town as viewed by a little girl whose father defends a black man accused of rape. It won the Pulitzer Prize, has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers 

Monster: A Graphic Novel by Walter Dean Myers, Guy A. Sims, and Dawud Anyabwile

While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

The Giver by Lois Lowry 

The Giver (Graphic Novel) by P. Craig Russell

Jonas’ life assignment is as the Receiver of Memory, where he will apprentice the Giver and become a storehouse of all the things humanity left behind when it entered utopia: color, emotion, and even more complicated secrets.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Ari Folman and David Polonsky

Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is among the most enduring documents of the twentieth century. Since its publication in 1947, it has been read by tens of millions of people all over the world. It remains a beloved and deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit. Restored in this Definitive Edition are diary entries that were omitted from the original edition. These passages, which constitute 30 percent more material, reinforce the fact that Anne was first and foremost a teenage girl, not a remote and flawless symbol. She fretted about and tried to cope with her own sexuality. Like many young girls, she often found herself in disagreements with her mother. And like any teenager, she veered between the carefree nature of a child and the full-fledged sorrow of an adult. Anne emerges more human, more vulnerable and more vital than ever.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson  

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger. “Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me be on my way. Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract”. Meg’s father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton 

In a future totalitarian state where books are banned and destroyed by the government, Guy Montag, a fireman in charge of burning books, meets a revolutionary schoolteacher who dares to read and a girl who tells him of a past when people did not live in fear.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

Pride and Prejudice (Marvel Illustrated) by Nancy Butler 

The story of lively and rebellious Elizabeth, one of five unmarried daughters living in the countryside of 19th century England, in a world where an advantageous marriage is a woman’s sole occupation.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden

As soon as Anne Shirley arrived at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she knew she wanted to stay forever. But would the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected — a skinny girl with decidedly red hair and a temper to match. If only she could convince them to let her stay, she’d try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes or blurting out the very first thing she had to say. Anne was not like anybody else, everyone at Green Gables agreed; she was special — a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreamed of the day when she could call herself Anne of Green Gables.