Over the past ten years, as graphic novels have grown in popularity, we are seeing more and more of them nominated for literary awards in non-comics categories. The precedent for this was set by Art Spiegelman’s Maus, which was the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize, and almost 15 years later, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese was a finalist for the National Book Awards. Since then the pace has picked up. Last year, graphic novels won Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz honors, and this year, Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl was a Newbery Honor Book and Written and Drawn by Henrietta, by Liniers, was a Batchelder Honor Book.

This year the trend continues, with two new announcements this month:

March, Book Three, by Andrew Aydin, John Lewis, and Nate Powell, is a finalist for the National Book Awards in the Young People’s Literature category. The winners of the awards will be announced on November 16. Although several other graphic novels have been finalists for this award, including Yang’s Boxers & Saints and Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona, a graphic novel has yet to win the award. Maybe this will be the year!

And Baba Yaga’s Assistant, by Marika McCoola with art by Emily Carroll, was named a Middle Reader/Young Adult Honors Book in the Massachusetts Book Awards. This book made our list of the top ten children’s graphic novels of 2015, and Esther Keller reviewed it for GC4K last year.