There is something about the graphic-novel form that captures migration like nothing else: the disorientation of a new place, the things that cannot be said in words. These eight are the best, from the landmark memoir of growing up in the Iranian Revolution to a wordless masterpiece of arrival. They range from all-ages to adult, from funny to devastating. If you or a reader you know finds a 400-page history daunting, start here instead, these land just as deep.
These are works of graphic fiction and memoir, not legal guidance.
Quick picks:
- Best overall: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. View on Amazon
- Most original: The Arrival by Shaun Tan. View on Amazon
- Best on identity: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. View on Amazon
The modern classics
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi is an acclaimed Iranian-French graphic novelist. The landmark graphic memoir of growing up during the Iranian Revolution and later in exile. A modern classic of the form and endlessly taught.
Best for: The graphic-memoir classic.
→ View on AmazonThe Arrival by Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan is an acclaimed graphic novelist. A wordless graphic masterpiece that captures the disorientation and wonder of migration through pure image. Universal and stunning.
Best for: Migration told without words.
→ View on AmazonAmerican Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang is a MacArthur Fellow and National Book Award finalist. A groundbreaking graphic novel weaving three stories about identity, assimilation and being Chinese-American. Funny, sharp and hugely influential.
Best for: Identity, illustrated.
→ View on AmazonThe Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Thi Bui is a graphic memoirist. A stunning illustrated memoir tracing a family's escape from Vietnam and the weight parents pass to children. One of the great graphic memoirs.
Best for: A refugee family, in graphic form.
→ View on AmazonPowerful newer works
Illegal by Eoin Colfer
Eoin Colfer is a bestselling author and his co-author, in graphic form. A stunning graphic novel following a boy's perilous journey from Africa across the Mediterranean. Accessible, humane and gripping.
Best for: The migrant-journey graphic novel.
→ View on AmazonDisplacement by Kiku Hughes
Kiku Hughes is a rising graphic novelist. A time-slip graphic novel that pulls a modern teen back into a Japanese-American incarceration camp. Inventive and quietly devastating.
Best for: History made personal.
→ View on AmazonAlmost American Girl by Robin Ha
Robin Ha is an acclaimed graphic memoirist. An illustrated memoir of a Korean girl abruptly transplanted to Alabama and finding herself through comics. Warm and resonant.
Best for: Coming-of-age graphic memoir.
→ View on AmazonOpen Borders by Bryan Caplan
Bryan Caplan is an economics professor, illustrated in graphic-novel form. An accessible, provocative graphic-format case that far more open immigration would enrich the world. Stance: the strongest popular argument for open borders.
Best for: The open-borders argument, illustrated.
→ View on AmazonHow we chose these
We looked for authors with real authority or genuine lived experience: immigration attorneys and economists, credentialed historians and scholars, award-winning journalists and the memoirists who lived these stories. Where a book takes a policy position, we note it plainly and let you decide. We describe and compare these books to help you choose; we do not reproduce their contents.
Please note: these are books, not legal advice. U.S. immigration law changes frequently and every case is different. For your specific situation, consult a licensed immigration attorney.
