Readers have spoken, and the final results of the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards are here! After three rounds of voting, the Goodreads Choice winner in the Best Graphic Novels & Comics category is First Second’s Pumpkinheads, written by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, and colored by Sarah Stern. Out of 213,043 votes in the category, Pumpkinheads received 29,624.
Pumpkinheads follows high school best friends Deja and Josiah, who have different ideas about how to spend their last night working at the best pumpkin patch in the world. As the pair attempt to achieve all their goals in the minimal time they have left at their seasonal job, things quickly get complicated, revealing more about their friendship, their goals, and their feelings than either of them ever could have guessed.
Pumpkinheads was one of four graphic novels from First Second nominated for a 2019 Goodreads Choice Award, in addition to a write-in nomination for a fifth title, though it was the only book from that publisher to make it into the final round. Garnering nearly 30 thousand votes is pretty impressive; it’s a testament both to the book’s success and to the popularity of its creative team, who are among some of the most prolific and beloved creators in comics and young adult fiction today.
It’s also worth noting that runner-up Heartstopper Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman received 28,460 votes, missing the top spot by just over 1 thousand votes. Below is the full list of Best Graphic Novels & Comics nominees (from all three rounds) and the number of votes each book received. You can also click here to see the winners in every category.
- Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks, and Sarah Stern (First Second) — 29,624 votes
- Heartstopper Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman (Hodder Children’s Books) — 28,460 votes
- The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renée Nault (Nan A. Talese) — 23,606 votes
- They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker (Top Shelf Productions) —19,574 votes
- A New York Times bestseller
- Our review
- Book Love by Debbie Tung (Andrews McMeel Publishing) — 18,200 votes
- Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, Jon Sommariva, Emma Kubert, David Calderon, and Tom Napolitano (DC Ink) —17,730 votes
- Summer 2019 Kids Indie Next List; USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller
- Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab, Andrea Olimpieri, Enrica Eren Angiolini, and Rob Steen (Titan Comics) — 16,832 votes
- The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, Nate Piekos, and Nick Filardi (Dark Horse Comics) — 14,237 votes
- Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu, and Joamette Gil (Lion Forge/Oni Press) — 9,005votes
- Paper Girls Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, Dee Cunniffe, and Jared K. Fletcher (Image Comics) —8,516votes
- 2019 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards winner for Best Coloring; 2019 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominee for Best Lettering
- Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley (First Second) —4,163votes
- A New York Times bestseller
- Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau (First Second)—4,075votes
- Our review
- Named one of The Beat‘s Best Comics of 2019
- Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (First Second) — 4,028 votes
- 2019 Harvey Awards winner for Book of the Year and Best Children’s or Young Adult Book; 2019 Ignatz Awards winner for Outstanding Artist, Outstanding Graphic Novel, and Outstanding Story
- Queerness In Comics: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
- Named one of The Beat‘s Best Comics of 2019
- Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob (One World) — 3,543 votes
- Named one of the Top 10 books of 2019 by Publishers Weekly
- Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle, Isaac Goodhart, Jeremy Lawson, and Deron Bennett (DC Ink)— 2,954 votes
- The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited! by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, and Carey Pietsch (First Second) — 2,452 votes
- Monstress, Vol. 4: The Chosen by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda, and Rus Wooton (Image Comics) — 1,939 votes
- 2018 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards winner for Best Writer, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, Best Continuing Series, Best Publication for Teens, and Best Cover Artist; 2018 Harvey Awards winner for Book of the Year; 2018 Hugo Awards winner for Best Graphic Story and Best Professional Artist; 2018 British Fantasy Awards winner for Best Comic/Graphic Novel; 2019 Hugo Awards nominee
- Named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Best Comic Books of the Year in 2015, 2016, and 2018; Named one of Newsweek‘s Best Comic Books of the Year 2018; Named one of The Washington Post‘s 10 Best Graphic Novels of the Year 2018; Named one of Barnes & Nobles Best Books of the Year 2018; Named one of YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2018; Named one of Thrillist‘s Best Comics & Graphic Novels of the Year 2018; Named one of Powell’s Best Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Graphic Novels of the Year 2018
- Fence, Vol. 3 by C.S. Pacat, Johanna the Mad, Joana Lafuente, and Jim Campbell (BOOM! Box) — 1,370 votes
- The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 9: “Okay” by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson, Dee Cunliffe, and Clayton Cowles (Image Comics) — 1,168 votes
- 2018 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominee for Best Continuing Series
- Die, Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles (Image Comics) — 567 votes
Did you vote in the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards? Are you pleased with the results? Sound off in the comments!