(Denver, CO) — Pop Culture Classroom, a Colorado-based education, and community nonprofit, today announced the finalists for the 2022 Excellence in Graphic Literature (EGL) Awards.
“We’re thrilled to be celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards,” said Pop Culture Classroom Education Program Manager, Matt Slayter. “Our juries and advisory board have carefully evaluated this year’s submitted works, and these graphic novels represent the best and most inclusive titles published in 2021. This list will help libraries and classrooms build diverse and educational graphic novel collections with titles that readers AND teachers of all ages will love! ”
2022 Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards Finalists
Best in Children’s Graphic Literature
Fiction
- The Adventures of Team Pom: Squid Happens by Isabel Roxas (Flying Eye Books)
- The Fifth Quarter by Mike Dawson (First Second Books)
- Forever Home by Jenny Ayoub (BOOM! Studios)
- The Princess Who Saved Herself by Greg Pak, Jonathan Coulton & Takeshi Miyazawa (BOOM! Studios)
- Scaredy Squirrel in a Nutshell by Melanie Watt (Random House BFYR)
- The Wolf in Underpants at Full Speed by Wilfrid Lupano, Mayana Itoïz & Paul Cauuet (Graphic Universe)
Non-Fiction
- The Bug Club by Elise Gravel (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Jop and Blip Wanna Know (Book #1) by Jim Benton (HarperAlley)
Best in Middle-Grade Graphic Literature
Fiction
- Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd & Michelle Mee Nutter (Scholastic)
- Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens (Graphic Universe)
- Cardboard Kingdom 2 by Chad Sell (Alfred A. Knopf BFYR)
- Delicates by Brenna Thummler (Oni Press)
- Turtle in Paradise by Jennie L. Holm & Savanna Ganucheau (Random House Graphic)
Non-Fiction
- Cold War Correspondent (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #11): A Korean War Tale by Nathan Hale (Abrams Amulet Books)
- The Leak by Kate Reed Petty & Andrea Bell (First Second Books)
- Marie Curie: A Quest for Light by Frances Andreasen Østerfelt, Anja Cetti Andersen & Anna Blaszczyk (IDW)
- Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab by Priya Huq (Abrams Amulet Books)
- Yummy by Victoria Grace Elliott (Random House Graphic)
Best in Young Adult Graphic Literature
Fiction
- The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag (Scholastic Graphix)
- The Hazards of Love, Book 1: Bright World by Stan Stanley (Oni Press)
- Heartstopper: Volume 4 by Alice Oseman (Scholastic Graphix)
- Himawari House by Harmony Becker (First Second Books)
- Home by Julio Anta & Anna Wieszczyk (Image Comics)
Non-Fiction
- Guerilla Green by Ophelie Damblé & Cookie Kalkair (BOOM! Studios)
- I’m a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee De La Cruz (Street Noise Books)
- Queer As All Get Out: 10 People Who’ve Inspired Me by Shelby Criswell (Street Noise Books)
- We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, Ross Ishikawa & Matt Sasaki (Chin Music Press/Wing Luke Museum)
- Why She Wrote by Lauren Burke, Hannah Chapman & Kaley Bales (Chronicle Books)
Best in Adult Graphic Literature
Fiction
- Ballad for Sophie by Felipe Melo & Juan Cavia (Top Shelf)
- Shadow Doctor by Peter Calloway & Georges Jeanty (AfterShock Comics)
- Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu (First Second Books)
- Tunnels by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)
- The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (Drawn & Quarterly)
Non-Fiction
- Hakim’s Odyssey, Book 1: From Syria to Turkey by Fabien Tolumé (Graphic Mundi)
- A House Without Windows by Marc Ellison & Didier Kassaï (Humanoids, Inc.)
- The Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont Drawn by New England Cartoonists by Various (Vermont Folklife Center)
- Run: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)
- Save it for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest by Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)
Each year, Pop Culture Classroom’s Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards celebrate the best in fiction and nonfiction graphic novels and comics. Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards finalists and winners are selected using a clearly defined and transparent process by juries and an advisory board comprised of diverse and informed professionals whose experiences span publishing, libraries, and education.
The EGL Awards help:
- Educators and librarians identify high-quality graphic literature to bring into diverse educational settings.
- Publishers of graphic novels increase their sales and growth potential with libraries and schools.
- Parents, pop culture fans, and other discerning readers find compelling, expertly crafted graphic literature to read and enjoy.
The 2022 Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards winners for Best in Children’s, Middle-grade, Young Adult, and Adult Graphic Literature will be announced later this month with the Mosaic Award for inclusive storytelling and EGL Book of the Year award to follow.
In addition, since this marks our 5th annual EGL Awards, PCC is making this important anniversary even more special. In a first for the EGL Awards, readers will have the chance to select the all-new EGL Readers’ Choice Award from this year’s jury-selected finalists.
Pop Culture Classroom will be announcing our 2022 EGL Readers’ Choice Award-winner – and celebrating all our incredible 2022 EGL Awards finalists and winners – at a special Teacher Appreciation event on June 30th, 2022 in Denver as part of our kick-off to an amazing weekend of educator and family-friendly activities at FAN EXPO Denver 2022!
For more information about the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards, please visit PopCultureClassroom.org/eglawards.