Elementary Graphic Novels

I’m developing a graphic novel collection here at my elementary library. I know how “graphic” some can be, so I was super careful in reading the professional reviews. The order just came in and now I’m reading some of the books for a double check before I put them on the shelf. I found some good ones!

FASHION KITTY
By Charise Mericle Harper

Kiki Kittie didn’t ask to become a superhero. But on her birthday when she made a wish and several unfortunate things happened at the same time and Fashion Kitty was born. Fashion Kitty isn’t your normal, run-of the mill superhero. She fights for free fashion and helps others avoid fashion faux pas. Her abilities include: a brain that can mix and match hundreds of outfits in a second, ears that hear the distress call of someone in need of fashion help and a tail that makes everything seem all right with one touch.
This is an adorable graphic novel that will certainly appeal to girls of all ages in elementary. The illustrations are quirky and fun. Plus, there is a little paper doll type activity in the middle of the book. I’m glad I got this series, it will fly off the shelf!
There are 3 so far in the series.

RECON ACADEMY: SHADOW CELL SCAM
by Chris Everheart and Arcano Studio

Recon Academy is a secret society of  kid spies. The series has four main characters that each have their own special skills. Emmi is a martial arts specialist, Hazmat is good at forensics, Jay is a gadgets person and Ryker is a computer expert. This installment, Shadow Cell Scam, is focused on Emmi. A shadow cell group is trying to stop the US Navy from launching a spy satellite. The kids get involved in the case and try to stop the bad guys from winning.
This is a neat little series. The illustrations are vibrant and engaging. The stories are short and sweet and perfect for elementary. In the back of the book is a little profile of the main character in the book and a page that looks like a webpage called Spyspace: a place for international spies. There’s a little chat between the characters and a profile of the case just solved. Also, I love the little glossary of words in the book that kids may not know like decrypt, detection, network and prototype.
This is a neat set of graphic novels that seems appropriate for 4th and 5th and above. There are about 6 in the series.

Buzz Beaker Brainstorm Series
ATTACK OF THE MUTANT LUNCH LADY
by Scott Nickel and Andy J. Smith
Buzz forgot his lunch and has to suffer the school cafeteria lunch. He isn't looking forward to the mystery meat, deep fried green stuff and side of yellow creamed gloop. But he doesn't have a choice, so braves it. Later that afternoon, the principal comes into their classroom to tell them not to panic, but that a giant monster is eating everything in the school. When Buzz and his friend Larry encounter the monster, they can't resist attempting to take care of the monster and saving the school.
This is a fun series that fits elementary kids perfectly! Boys & girls will love it.

There are 7 or 8 of these books.


A few more series graphics that are great for elementary:
PRINCESS CANDY
by Michael Dahl and Jeff Crowther

EEK & ACK
by Blake A Hoena and Steve Harpster

BILLY BLASTER
by David Orme and Peter Richardson

Many of these series are from Capstone - here's a good link
http://www.capstonepub.com/category/LIB_PUBLISHER_SAB

Enjoy going graphic!

D. J. Steinberg & Brian Smith. THE ADVENTURES OF DANIEL BOOM aka LOUD BOY

I’m reviewing some of the latest graphic novels for my new graphic collection at my library. The Adventures of Daniel Boom is way more fun than I imagined it would be. Here are some of the little things that I appreciate:

The villain is named Old Fogey, The ear doctor’s name is Dr. Des E. Bell and the cafeteria lunch lady is called Ms. Grossweiner. Yes, I also think Captain Underpants is funny!

But the story is good too. Daniel Boom was born with a really loud voice – even as an infant, he shattered windows out of the hospital when he cried. Now as a student at Stillville Elementary, Daniel has met a group of kids who also have some “special” talents. They soon learn of an evil plot by Kid-Rid Industries that threatens all the kids in the world. They learn that they are really a unique group of super heroes and take action against Old Fogey and his men.

My students will love Daniel Boom aka Loud Boy!

Check out the author's website here - and the illustrator here

Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg. JANES IN LOVE

This is the sequel to the fantastic PLAIN JANES. Everything seems to be going well for the Janes. They continue their P.L.A.I.N. activities. Valentine’s Day is coming up, so people begin obsessing about getting a date for the dance. Then a few curves balls are thrown at the group. An encounter with the police makes Jane question whether or not to continue P.L.A.I.N. Also, a few scary events bring back haunting memories from the violence in Metro City. Will Jane ever feel hopeful again about her friends and the future?
There are so many events and issues in this deceptively slim volume. Even though it’s intense, it isn’t depressing. After reading, you feel like you’ve been on a beautiful journey. The artwork is spectacular! The story and the images are merged perfectly.
Highly Recommended!

Here is the author's website

Here are two interviews with illustrator Jim Rugg:
This one is about first book PLAIN JANES
This one is about the sequel JANES IN LOVE

This is the type of graphic novel that I use to illustrate why graphic novel are so important and serve a huge purpose in library collections and classrooms.

Here are two more of my current favorite works of literature art:



Please share some of your favorite graphic novels!

Holly Black & Ted Naifeh. THE GOOD NEIGHBORS.

What an awesome graphic novel! I got this one totally on the reputation of the wonderful Holly Black. She’s well known for SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, TITHE, VALIANT and IRONSIDE. I was not disappointed!
Rue Silver’s mom disappeared a while back and her father is being blamed for her death. At the same time, Rue has begun to see strange things things all around her – weird looking creatures. She begins remembering how “crazy” she thought her mom was and wonders is she is now going crazy herself. After digging around in her past, she discovers some unusual truths about herself and her kin. Her mom is a faerie and she's in danger.
Wow! This was suspenseful, mysterious, wonderful world of faeries, friendship and family. The artwork is spectacular! The illustrator is Ted Naifeh. This is a perfect example of how the artwork in a graphic novel is such an essential part of the story. For example, on the bottom of page 99, Rue is standing with her back to us, alone in a pile of feathers with three small boxes of text. It is stunning! It’s is like a mini-movie. But while reading a graphic novel, you have time to process & enjoy each page – while a movie flies quickly across the screen. I did enjoy, actually I cherished each page! I wish I could show the artwork here, but if you go to Amazon, you can take a peek inside the book. Although, you have to see it in person – you must! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
I anxiously await the sequel!

More on Holly Black

More on the illustrator Ted Naifeh

Lauren R. Weinstein. GIRL STORIES

HYSTERICAL! That’s really the most accurate word to describe this graphic novel. However, that would make for a short blog entry, so here’s more:

This is a collection of comics that originally ran on gurl.com and generated a huge response from readers. The comics are brief episodes of Lauren’s life. They include a wide variety embarrassing moments of a typical teenager’s life. As the back of the book says, you shall find within the pages of this book teenagers, rock stars, fashion tips, friends, skaters, punks, sports, and more. You’ll also find an embarrassingly honest and funny description of what a lot of girls go through in their teenage years. It really is like reading a diary. If you’re a teen, you’ll relate. If you’re not, you’ll relate too and hopefully remember back to your teenage years with more than a few giggles. And the art is sooo wonderful! It completely adds to the hysterical nature of the episodes. Loved it!!

Website for the book http://www.girlstoriescomics.com/

Author’s blog http://www.laurenweinstein.com/

Jay Hosler. CLAN APIS

In preparation for our new graphic novel collection, I’ve been previewing mangas, comics, and other graphic novels. This one stood out as a winner for such a wide audience. It’s about a clan of bees, called Clan Apis (Apis is bee in Latin). Nyuki is a baby still in the larvae stage when the story begins. An older bee befriends him and explains how things are and what he should expect at the next stage of his life. The story goes on to each fascinating stage in a bee’s life. This may sound dry, by the characters are quite lively. I laughed out loud several times. Who knew learning about bees could be so much fun? I sure didn’t. I also got a whole new appreciation for bees. The way they do everything for “the hive,” rather than themselves, is pretty cool. In fact, they even die when they sting something while protecting the hive. How noble. This was written by a biology professor who has been working with bees for years. He adds an additional mini-comic at the end where he tells the story of how he found out he was allergic to bee venom after getting stung. I highly recommend this one! You’ll enjoy it so much that you won’t realize how much you’re learning.

The author is an intriguing combination of Biologist & Cartoonist. You can even see some of his comics on his website here: http://www.jayhosler.com/

Siena Cherson Siegel & Mark Siegel. TO DANCE

Here’s a brand new selection from our coming soon Graphic Novel section, TO DANCE. This is a memoir of Siena Siegel’s life as a ballerina. It begins when she is a very young girl who loves to dance. She skipped, twirled and danced every where she went, because “A big, empty space is always an invitation to dance.” After attending a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet from Russia, Siena is forever changed. She dreams of being a ballerina. She works hard on her dream and makes it into the esteemed School of American Ballet and later performs with the New York City Ballet.
This is a beautiful way to read about her life in the ballet. I couldn’t imagine this story without the artwork, done by her husband, Mark Siegel. You feel the fluid illustrations almost dancing across the page. You really feel as though you have been a part of the dancing world. This is a real treat!

Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg. THE PLAIN JANES

After a disaster strikes her hometown of Metro City, Jane’s parents are frightened to the suburbs. Jane really misses the big city, but resigns herself to trying to make friends. She finally becomes friends with a few other girls, also all named Jane. Jane decides to shake things up in suburbia. The Janes start an art tribe and try to save the town from the plainness with secret art projects all over town. The cops seem to think they’re defacing property and committing crimes, but the other teenagers are backing them up. Can art really save this town?
I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The art really supports the engaging characters. It was smart & fun!

The author is a pretty cool character herself. Check her out here:

http://www.misscecil.com/

Some of her other books:

Here's the info on the artist: http://www.streetangelcomics.com/

This is a great addition to my graphic novel collection in the library. I’ll be ordering a lot more soon. I already have some great titles in mind, but if anyone has more great ideas for a middle school library, please let me know.

BLUE BLOODS, CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE, AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

Melissa de la Cruz. BLUE BLOODS

Schuyler Van Alen lives in Manhattan and attends a prestigious private school. She’s the last in the line of a wealthy, distinguished family. But even with her family background, she doesn’t quite fit in at her school. She has two close friends and they live outside of the popular clique at school. However, soon she finds out that they all have something in common. The term Blue Bloods, isn’t just a term referring to rich family lineage, but in fact means blue blood. They are all vampires. At fifteen, Schuyler is just manifesting the symptoms and learning about what she is. The vampires aren’t a threat to humans, like in some vampire novels, due to their strict code. The threat is actually some other creature out there trying to kill the blue bloods. This is a cool read with a lot of intriguing history in it. With the many vampire themed novels currently out there, this one is one you won’t be able to put down. The sequel is due out in May. Can’t wait!


Laura M. Zeises.
CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE
Fourteen-year-old Lucy feels like everyone is leaving her behind. Most of her friends have boyfriends, and her brother left her to go off to college. So she is caught completely off guard when a junior boy starts giving her attention. Then her brother surprises her by coming back home, with some surprises. Suddenly, her life is the one changing and she isn’t so sure that she likes it. This was a wonderful, humorous, but also thoughtful book. The first page grabbed be right away and didn’t let go until I finished it.







Gene Luen Yang. AMERICAN BORN CHINESE
This graphic novel has three interrelated stories that weave together. In one story, Jin Wang’s family moves to a new neighborhood where he is the only Chinese-American. The kids aren’t very accepting of his differences. Even though he was born in America, the kids think of him as Chinese. Finally, he becomes friends with a new student who just moved in from Taiwan. In another story, a boy is embarrassed by his cousin visiting from China. Will these boys finally be accepted by their friends at school? Or will they learn to just be themselves and not worry about it? Check it out

BAUER, STAHLER, APPELT, TSUDA

Bauer, Joan. BEST FOOT FORWARD. This is a continuation to RULES OF THE ROAD. After her summer with Mrs. Gladstone, Jenna is back home working at the store. She is helping with the merger of Gladstone shoes and The Shoe Warehouse. A thief, caught stealing in the store, is hired by Mrs. Gladstone to work in the store. Much to Jenna's dismay, she is assigned to “turn him around.” Also, Mrs. Gladstone's son is working on his own embezzlement plans. Jenna comes to the rescue as she did in RULES OF THE ROAD. This is just a good as the original. The relationship between Mrs. Gladstone & Jenna really makes this a heart-warming read.

Bauer, Joan. STAND TALL. Sam has always been called Tree. He's only in middle school, but he is 6 foot 3 inches tall. Even though he is tall, he isn't good at sports, like his older brothers. He doesn't fit in at school. He gets teased for his height. Plus, since his parent's divorce, things aren't right at home either. However, with the help of his grandfather and a new girl at school, perhaps things will start looking up.
**Other good ones by Joan Bauer STICKS, RULES OF THE ROAD, and the Newbery Honor book HOPE WAS HERE.

Stahler, David. TRUESIGHT. In the town of Harmony all the citizens are born blind on purpose. The settlement was founded on the premise that blindness removes all the shallowness of the world and leaves only purity. In fact, Seers are considered evil. So when Jacob slowly begins to see he is nervous about telling someone. Even worse than carrying his own secret, Jacob starts seeing numerous crimes in the community. He finally must tell someone and confides in his best friend. What will his friend do? Will Jacob continue to “see” while everyone else is blind? The back of the book mentions that this will be a trilogy. I hope so, since the ending left me wanting more.

Appelt, Kathi. POEMS FROM HOMEROOM. This collection of poems includes all types of teenage emotions and happenings. Each is insightful in its own way. A boy acts completely wild to get the attention of a girl. Two kids find cyberlove. An athlete endures the pressure of having a father who is the coach. Also, there is also a nice tribute in acrostics to seven young stars who died too soon (Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and four others). The second half of the book is a handbook for writers. Appelt reveals the motivation behind each poem and gives a listing of ideas on the same subject. If you like writing or poetry even a little bit, this is for you!

Tsuda, Masami. KARE KANO: HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES, VOL 1. (MANGA) Yukino Miyazawa is admired for her perfect grades, appearance, and popularity. She loves being adored for all that she is able to accomplish. Until a rival named Arima Aoiichior arrives and becomes class leader. She does everything she can to outdo him. They meet and she is polite to him. Later, he stops by her house to drop off a CD, and he sees the “true” Yukino. He doesn't mention anything to her. Several days later, he blackmails her. He threatens to tell everyone that she is a fake, unless she becomes his homework slave. What will she do to get out of this? Continue to work for him or give up her secret? This manga was very readable. Although, it was still difficult to tell who was talking sometimes, or if some text bubbles were thoughts rather than speech. But, I enjoyed the way the author put text in strange places on the page. Plus there were little areas of commentary about the page, but it was unclear who was saying it. Overall, it was shallow, but cute.