From Publishers Weekly's reviews of children’s and young adult books published in 2023, our selections for the top 50 books of the year include picture books and graphic novels, fiction and nonfiction, and debuts and bestsellers for readers of all ages.

Mexikid A Graphic Memoir is among the Best Middle Grade Books of the Year

NYT critic and best selling author Matt de la Peña reviews Mexikid A Graphic Memoir.

“We are living in a golden age of graphic novels and memoirs, and “Mexikid” is one of the best I’ve ever read.”

Chosen as one of NPR’s “Books We Love” list.

As part of NPR’s Books We Love 2023, “All Things Considered” does a brief piece about Mexikid.

Mexikid was chosen as one of eighteen titles considered to be the best of the year!

Tales of homecoming, forbidden love, dangerous adventures on an island of ghosts and more.

Combining evocative artwork and stirring stories, our editors’ choice graphic novels for adults and youth showcase this year’s best of the format in a wide variety of genres, topics, and tones.

The New York Public Library is proud to present our Best Books of 2023. Our annual recommendations for kids, teens, and adults, curated by our expert librarians, encompass fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, poetry, kids’ books in Spanish, and much more.

Best Graphic Novels 2023 | SLJ Best Books

What's it like to not only divulge the details of your life but also draw them for everyone to see?! Jarret J. Krosoczka's "Sunshine" follows his experience working at a camp for terminally ill children. "Mexikid" tracks Pedro Martín's journeys to Mexico to visit his grandfather. Through memorable text and art, we know more about these writers - and maybe ourselves. Moderated by Kahîn Mohammad.

Author Pedro Martín hopes to connect with all audiences who can remember being stuck on a classic family road trip.

For the 10th anniversary year of Minorities in Pub, Jenn welcomes recent Newbery honoree and Pura Belpré winning author/illustrator Pedro Martín! Pedro talks about his entry into books from creating greeting cards, how the Mexikid online comic expanded even more with his award-winning book, learning lots about publishing his debut and how to consider young readers in storytelling, aplus how he approaches humor in his illustrations, especially when touching on aspects of his childhood/family. 

In this middle grade graphic memoir, Mexikid, readers will love Pedro whose family of 11 is leaving their home in Watsonville, California to travel to Jalisco, Mexico in Apa's Winnebago where they'll pick up Abuelito and bring him back to CA. Their 2,000 mile journey is adventurous, hilarious, historic, and heartwarming. Pedro and his siblings are entirely relatable to a wide audience.

Welcome to the Shelf Care Interview, an occasional conversation series where Booklist talks to book people. This Shelf Care Interview is sponsored by Penguin Young Readers. In this episode of the Shelf Care Interview, Sarah Hunter talks to author-artist Pedro Martín. Pedro Martín is a former Hallmark artist of 27 years, and the creator of Asteroid, Andy. He chronicles his life growing up Mexican American online in a series called MEXIKID, which is the basis of the book we'll be gushing over today.

Lucy chats to comic writer and artist Pedro Martin.

Pedro Martín is a former Hallmark artist and the creator of Asteroid Andy. He chronicles his life growing up Mexican American online in a comic series called Mexikid Stories, and in his debut graphic memoir Mexikid.

In this episode, Pedro Martín takes us behind the scenes of his graphic novel, MEXIKID

Pedro Martin's MEXIKID is a 2024 Newbery Honor Award winner. The inspiration for his first graphic novel as both an author and illustrator is his Mexican grandfather, whose family of 8 piled into a Winnebago to bring him from Mexico to the U.S.. Pedro talks about MEXIKID in this interview, as well as the challenges he has cutting his book down from 600 pages to 320. He also spoke about his artwork, and much more.