Graphic novels continue to push the envelope of edginess, complexity and literary substance, gaining traction in education and in the library market. The BEA panel, “Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries,” discussed titles that give educators options for all kinds of students, from toddlers through to advanced college and even graduate students, yet these titles can also stand on their own literary and artistic merit.
Moderated by John Hogan, editorial director for GraphicNovelReporter.com, panelists, Ryan Donovan of the New York Public Library, Karen Green, who leads a double life at Columbia University as both a librarian of ancient and medieval history and director of her library’s graphic novel collection; teacher Leigh Brodsky of Watchung Hills Regional School in Warren, New Jersey and Jeff Ayers, buyer for Forbidden Planet, all provided contributions to an impressive list of graphic novels coming out in the Fall. Although very often they chose titles they liked personally, many of the books have strong educational potential.
For elementary school kids, Scholastic Graphix’s Sidekicks (July), gives a superhero any kid can relate to—one with his pets as sidekicks. Nina in ‘That Makes Me Mad, (Sept. 27)’ from Random Houseis a single panel story that offers a good transition from picture books for very young children. The Influencing Machine, by NPR’s Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld, is both a history of journalism as well as survey of technology and the media and how it works to influence us, just released by W.W. Norton. That book, along with Jim Ottaviani’s Feynman, (First Second), about the famously quirky Nobel Laureate in physics, and NBM’s Sacco and Venzetti, both of which are out in August, are engaging, beautifully-drawn titles suited to high school honors classes.
The two standouts for everyone were Onward Toward our Noble Deaths, out this month with Drawn and Quarterly, and Ponent Mon’s Farm 54, by Galit and Gilad Seliktar. The first is an anti-war comic about WWII seen from the standpoint of the Japanese. It’s also the first work of the manga master, Shigeru Mizuki, translated into English. Equally impressive was Fanfare/Ponent Mon’s May title, Farm 54, stories by Galit Seliktar with her artist collaborator and brother Gilad, about her time as an Israeli soldier.
A few titles weren’t suitable for most teaching—except perhaps with fairly sophisticated college students. Vertigo’s April title, Aaron and Ahmed: A Love Story, deals with the relationship that grows between a Guantanamo Bay detainee and his torturer. That, along with Jeff Jensen’s Green River Killer (Dark Horse), about the serial killer known by that name, are probably only suitable for college and older, and Jeff Smith’s RASL: Book 3, a rousing science-fiction tale—a departure from the kid-friendly Bone—is aimed at an adult audience and is just plain fun.
Graphic nonfiction works, particularly about war or true crime, were said to be particularly good for attracting middle and high school boys, who are often labeled “reluctant readers.” Leigh Brodsky says these books inspire that group to read as nothing else does. And the panela agreed that despite the plethora of online sources available to elementary, middle and upper school teachers and librarians, there’s no good resource for college professors who want to use graphic novels or for college librarians who want to acquire them.
The Complete List of Hot Fall Graphic Novels For Libraries 2011
JUVENILE
Nina in That Makes Me Mad by Hilary Knight, Steven Kroll Publisher: Candlewick Press
Product Details Pub. Date: September 2011 Format: Hardcover , 32pp Age Range: 4 to 6 Lexile: GN160L Series: Toon Series ISBN-13: 9781935179108 ISBN: 1935179101
Bake Sale by Sara Varon Publisher: First Second
Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Hardcover , 160pp Age Range: 12 and up ISBN-13: 9781596437401 ISBN: 1596437405 Paper back ISBN-13: 9781596434196 ISBN: 1596434198
Sidekicks by Dan Santat Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Product Details Pub. Date: July 2011 Format: Paperback , 224pp Sales Rank: 788,099 Age Range: 8 to 11 ISBN-13: 9780439298193 ISBN: 0439298199
TEEN
Americus by MK Reed, Jonathan David Hill (Illustrator) Publisher: First Second
Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Paperback , 208pp Age Range: 12 and up ISBN-13: 9781596436015 ISBN: 1596436018
Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim Publisher: First Second
Product Details Pub. Date: December 2011 Format: Hardcover , 96pp Age Range: Young Adult ISBN-13: 9781596436572 ISBN: 1596436573
The Last Dragon by Rebecca Guay, Jane Yolen Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Product Details Pub. Date: October 2011 Format: Hardcover , 144pp
ISBN-13: 9781595827982 ISBN: 1595827986
Lucid by Anna Wieszczyk (Artist), Michael McMillian Publisher: Archaia Black Label
Product Details Pub. Date: June 2011 Format: Hardcover , 112pp Age Range: Young Adult ISBN-13: 9781936393046 ISBN: 1936393042
Mangaman by Barry Lyga, Colleen Doran (Illustrator) Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Product Details Pub. Date: November 2011 Format: Hardcover , 144pp Age Range: 12 ISBN-13: 9780547423159 ISBN: 0547423152
TEEN +
The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media by Brooke Gladstone, Josh Neufeld (Illustrator) Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Product Details Pub. Date: May 2011 Format: Hardcover , 170pp Sales Rank: 953
ISBN-13: 9780393077797 ISBN: 0393077799
Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey by GB Tran Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Product Details Pub. Date: January 2011 Format: Hardcover , 288pp Sales Rank: 249,002 ISBN-13: 9780345508720 ISBN: 0345508726
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Product Details Pub. Date: April 2011 Format: Paperback , 368pp Sales Rank: 700,103 ISBN-13: 9781770460416 ISBN: 1770460411
Feynman by Jim Ottaviani, Leland Myrick (Illustrator) Publisher: First Second
Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Hardcover , 272pp
ISBN-13: 9781596432598 ISBN: 1596432594
Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Authorized Adaptation by Ray Bradbury, Ron Wimberly (Illustrator) Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Product Details Pub. Date: July 2011 Format: Paperback , 144pp ISBN-13: 9780809080441 ISBN: 0809080443
ADULT
Aaron & Ahmed by James Romberger (Illustrator), Jay Cantor Publisher: DC Comics
Product Details Pub. Date: April 2011 Format: Hardcover , 144pp
Sales Rank: 436,924 ISBN-13: 9781401211868 ISBN: 1401211860
RASL: Romance at the Speed of Light by Jeff Smith (Illustrator) Publisher: Cartoon Books
Product Details Pub. Date: December 2011 Format: Paperback , 120pp Series: Rasl Series ISBN-13: 9781888963335 ISBN: 1888963336
A Treasury of Xxth Century Murder: The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti by Rick Geary Publisher: N B M Publishing Company Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Hardcover , 80pp Sales Rank: 401,302 ISBN-13: 9781561636051 ISBN: 1561636053
The Armed Garden and Other Stories by David B. Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Hardcover , 112pp ISBN-13: 9781606994627 ISBN: 160699462X
Paying for It by Chester Brown Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Product Details Pub. Date: May 2011 Format: Hardcover , 292pp Sales Rank: 66,280 ISBN-13: 9781770460485 ISBN: 1770460489
The Sky Over the Louvre by Jean-Claude Carriere, Bernard Yslaire (Illustrator) Publisher: N B M Publishing Company
Product Details Pub. Date: April 2011 Format: Hardcover , 66pp Sales Rank: 325,706 ISBN-13: 9781561636020 ISBN: 1561636029
HONORABLE MENTION
Juvenile
Bad Island by Doug TenNapel Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Hardcover , 224pp
ISBN-13: 9780545314794 ISBN: 0545314798
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "Race to Death Valley" by Floyd Gottfredson Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Product Details Pub. Date: June 2011 Format: Hardcover , 260pp Sales Rank: 150,702 Series: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Series ISBN-13: 9781606994412 ISBN: 1606994417
Teen
Wandering Son: Book One by Shimura Takako Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Product Details Pub. Date: July 2011 Format: Hardcover , 192pp Sales Rank: 295,960 ISBN-13: 9781606994160 ISBN: 1606994166
FAME: Lady Gaga: The Graphic Novel by Dan Glasl (Artist), C.W. Cooke, Adam Ellis (Artist) Publisher: Bluewater Productions, Incorporated
Product Details Pub. Date: July 2011 Format: Paperback , 40pp Sales Rank: 419,881
Age Range: Young Adult ISBN-13: 9781450749206 ISBN: 1450749208
Nuts by Gahan Wilson Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Product Details Pub. Date: August 2011 Format: Hardcover , 144pp ISBNISBN: 1606994549
FARM 54 by Galit Seliktar Publisher: Ponent Mon S.L.
Product Details Pub. Date: May 2011 Format: Hardcover , 136pp ISBN-13: 9781908007001 ISBN: 1908007001
Congress of the Animals by Jim Woodring Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Product Details Pub. Date: June 2011 Format: Hardcover , 104pp Sales Rank: 429,860 ISBN-13: 9781606994375 ISBN: 1606994379
Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jonathan Case, Jeff Jensen Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Product Details Pub. Date: October 2011 Format: Hardcover , 240pp ISBN-13: 9781595825605 ISBN: 1595825606
Defiance: Resistance Book 2 by Carla Jablonski, Leland Purvis (Illustrator)Publisher: First Second
Product Details Pub. Date: July 2011 Format: Paperback , 128pp Sales Rank: 526,091 Age Range: Young Adult Series: Resistance Series ISBN-13: 9781596432925 ISBN: 1596432926
An Elegy for Amelia Johnson by Dave Valeza (Artist), Andrew Rostan Publisher: Archaia Studios Press
Product Details
Pub. Date: March 2011 Format: Hardcover , 128pp Sales Rank: 287,829 Age Range: Young Adult ISBN-13: 9781932386837 ISBN: 193238683
Empire State: A Love Story (or Not) by Jason Shiga Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Product Details Pub. Date: May 2011 Format: Hardcover , 144pp Sales Rank: 506,839 ISBN-13: 9780810997479 ISBN: 0810997479
