Random House Graphic recently Tweeted a series of cover reveals, unveiling their slate of graphic novels for Summer 2022. The list included new stories and characters as well as new volumes in established series. Here’s a look at the new titles, in order of release date:
The start of middle school brings new worries for Katie, the lead character in Growing Pangs: starting a new school, getting braces, and dealing with her BFF Kacey, who has been acting weird lately. Katie starts developing little rituals, such as tapping three times, to help ease her anxiety, but that brings its own worries. A middle-school drama along the lines of Friends Forever and Guts, Growing Pangs is based on Ormsbee’s own experience of growing up with anxiety and OCD. Brooks is the creator of the middle-grade graphic novel series Sanity & Tallulah (see “Book Expo Buzz”). (May 3; Paperback; $12.99/Hardcover: $20.99)
Steve L. McEvil’s ambition is to be a supervillain, and his villainous grandfather has been coaching him. Then everything goes wrong at once in this lighthearted story: Mysterious stones start appearing around town, the obnoxiously nice Vic Turry becomes his new neigbhbor, and the girl he likes has eyes for Vic. Turnbloom was the artist for the Scholastic graphic novel Dream Jumper, which was written by actor Greg Grunberg (see “‘Dream Jumper: Nightmare Escape’”). His webcomic How to Cat is posted on Instagram, where he has over 200,000 followers, as well as other social media. (May 24; Hardcover; $12.99)
A mole and a vole explore their urban back yard and then take an unplanned trip to the country, keeping a journal of all the interesting plants and animals they find along the way. Mosco is a science writer and the creator of the online comic Bird and Moon, which was collected in print by Andrews McMeel, and the co-author of The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid. Hu is an Ignatz award-winning artist and the in-house illustrator and graphic designer for the National Aquarium. (June 21; Hardcover; $12.99)
Tad is a frog who dreams of becoming a knight in this fantasy tale with super-cute characters. His dream comes true in an unexpected way when he ends up on a quest with a band of adventurers that includes the Star King himself. Now the little frog must find a way to transport the Star King to the moon in order to bring peace to the forest. Davault is the creator of the webcomic Oddity Woods. (July 5; Hardcover; $20.99)
Luis Fernando and Luisa Teresa are twins who live in Mexico, but when they start middle school, Teresa crosses the border every day to go to a private school in Calexico, California, while Fernando goes to the local school in Mexicali. While Fernando figures out how to make friends without his sister by his side, Teresa must contend with crossing the border twice a day. They miss each other in school, but when they are home, they can’t seem to connect. Pimienta (Joe Pi), who grew up in Mexicali, is the writer and artist of Suncatcher and collaborated with Cecil Castellucci on Soupy Leaves Home (see “Dark Horse Round-Up”). (July 12; Paperback: $12.99/Hardcover: $20.99)
Lemon Bird is a lemon-shaped bird, and her dog Pupkin is a pumpkin-shaped dog, putting this early-reader graphic novel firmly in the popular Animals Named After Foods category. The pair are lost, but as they find their way home, they make new friends and help solve some problems. This is the first solo graphic novel for Ganucheau, who was the artist for Zodiac Starforce, Another Castle, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power(see “Noelle Stevenson’s ‘She-Ra’ Gets Graphic Novel”). (August 23; Hardcover; $12.99)
Here are the new volumes in existing series:
This book is the sequel to Knisley’s Stepping Stones (see “Kids’ Graphic Novels: What to Watch Out For in 2020”), a semi-autobiographical story about a city girl adjusting to life on a farm with her newly blended family. (May 3; Paperback: $12.99/Hardcover: $20.99)
The Bug Boys, Rhino-B and Stag-B, like to hang out, have goofy adventures, and occasionally discuss their feelings. This is the third Bug Boys book. The first one, Bug Boys, was one of RH Graphic’s launch titles (see “Preview: ‘Bug Boys’”), and Bug Boys: Outside and Beyond, came out last year. The Bug Boys started out in a zine, which was nominated for an Ignatz Award in 2018. (May 31; Hardcover; $13.99)
In the latest graphic adaptation of Osborne’s best-selling chapter books, the Magic Treehouse transports Jack and Annie to ancient Egypt. (June 28; Paperback: $9.99/Hardcover; $16.99)
This is the fourth outing for the two friends, who are literally a slice of pizza and a taco with faces, arms, and legs. A new school year brings Pizza and Taco a new classmate, B.L.T., who is something of a rebel: He wears sunglasses indoors and shows up late to class. When they start to imitate his mildly delinquent antics, trouble ensues. (June 28; Hardcover; $9.99)
The two friends face down a sugary invasion of their school. (July 5; Hardcover; $9.99)
Pizza My Heart is the third early-readers graphic novel about Norma and Belly, the mischievous squirrels whose attempts to scam some food were featured in Donut Feed the Squirrels (which was nominated for an Eisner Award) and Apple of My Pie. This time they have a craving for pizza, and no one will deliver to their tree, so they have to get creative. (August 16; Hardcover; $12.99)