Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fangirl, Vol. 1 | 2020 | Rainbow Rowell | N/A |
| 2 | Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga | 2020 | Rainbow Rowell | Buy |
| 3 | Fangirl 2: Die Manga-Adaption | 2022 | Rainbow Rowell | N/A |
| 4 | Fangirl, Vol. 3: The Manga | 2023 | Rainbow Rowell | Buy |
| 5 | Fangirl, Vol. 4: The Manga | 2024 | Rainbow Rowell | Buy |
| 6 | Fangirl, Vol. 2: The Manga | 2022 | Rainbow Rowell | Buy |
Fangirl: The Manga began releasing in 2020, bringing Rowell’s 2013 novel to a new format well suited to its subject matter. The original book is about a girl who writes fan fiction for a fictional fantasy series, so seeing it adapted into manga, a medium with its own passionate fan communities, felt like a natural fit. Artist Gabi Nam’s character designs capture the slightly disheveled, intensely internal quality of Cath that made the novel work.
The adaptation covers Cath’s first year at the University of Nebraska, her complicated relationship with her twin sister Wren, her growing connection with her roommate’s ex-boyfriend Levi, and her attempts to finish her epic Simon Snow fan fiction before the series ends. Across four volumes the story moves through the same emotional beats as the novel while the visual medium gives particular life to the contrast between Cath’s rich inner fantasy world and her struggles with ordinary social situations.
Volume 3 was named a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens in 2023. Readers who came to Fangirl through the manga have often gone back to the novel, and vice versa, which is fitting for a book that is itself a story about how stories travel between formats and communities.