New YA Nonfiction and Comics for August 2026

There’s some good news to report from the world of young adult nonfiction, and it’s this: there are actually multiple works of nonfiction written for teens that hit shelves in August. This is a stark change from the last several months, where finding YA nonfiction to highlight has been difficult, if not impossible.

Even more good news? Several YA comics hit shelves. Whether you’re looking for a compelling work of graphic nonfiction about race and class or you’re itching for a fresh take on Batman, you’re going to find something in this month’s YA nonfiction and comics releases.

Grab your TBR. It’s about to get bigger!

Nonfiction

The Healers of Harlem by Nina Chhita

Pitching itself as a book for fans of Hidden Figures, Chhita’s debut is about the history of Harlem Hospital. It traces the hospital’s origins as a small institution through its more recent era, focusing on four Black women who were key figures in its desegregation. This is a work of interdisciplinary history, super accessible to teen readers, and it includes the author’s own illustrations throughout.

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See It To BeIt by Billie Jean King with Liz Robbins

What sets this one apart from many of the great collective biographies out there is that it includes exclusive interviews and previously unseen photos.

Stepping Up by Kiara Valdez and illustrated by Diana Tsai Santos

Landing at the intersection of the best of both worlds is this graphic memoir. It follows Kiara’s experiences as a Black freshman at a predominantly white boarding school. It’s her dream school, and she worked hard to be there. Unfortunately, she feels like an outsider, not only because of her race but also because she’s a student on financial aid.

Worried she’ll never fit in, things turn when Kiara discovers the school’s step team. She’s found a place where she feels she belongs, but when tragedy hits some of her closest friends, Kiara begins to really question what it means to be someone like her at her fancy institution.

It’s a story about fitting in, as well as about discovering what the costs can be of even wanting to do that.

Comics

Bite Me by Jennifer Dugan and illustrated by Kit Seaton

Poe is a senior in high school, and thanks to an attack by a pair of vampires, she’s been turned into one herself. That’s inconvenient, especially because her longtime crush Jolie is a slayer.

Poe’s heart is broken–literally?–when Jolie puts a stake through her chest. Poe fortunately survives and is now battling whether to live her vampiric life or to get revenge on the girl she once couldn’t get enough of.

But when Poe comes face to face with Jolie again, ready to take her out, the two of them begin to feel something other than a taste for blood. Their romantic feelings are taking over, but is it even possible for them to indulge in a relationship when their roles are hunter and hunted?

A Sapphic supernatural vampire/slayer comic sounds like a LOT of fun.

Mary Sue by Meghan Fitzmartin and illustrated by Lisa Sterle

Queens of the Crypt by Dom&Ink

Being described as “E. M. Carroll meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a dash of The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” this debut horror graphic novel sounds like the perfect fall reading.

Barnaby Jones just came out to their parents as nonbinary. They think that’s going to be the hardest thing they do today, but it turns out, they’re wrong. Their best friend, Fi, has just been kidnapped by a faceless killer who’s been scooping up teens across their small town of Widow’s Creek. Barnaby has also just summoned the undead Queens of the Crypt from a portal in their closet.

The good news, it seems, is that those four Queens of the Crypt want to help out. But can Barnaby and the Queens unmask the kidnapper and save the town, especially as things continue to go from bad to worse?

More of August’s YA comic releases:

• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater and illustrated by Sas Milledge
• The Kiss Bet, Volume 4 by Ingrid Ochoa

• Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn and illustrated by Nicole Goux

• Teen Titans Together by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo

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