Graphic novels | Page 4 of 7

Eerie Tales from the School of Screams, a macabre all-age graphic novel

School-age children want to be scared. Nay, school-age children need to experience scary, spooky, well-told stories that shake their skin. They don’t need to be able to quote dialogue from some Korean horror film or break down their favorite Saw entry, but they need to see some darkness, even if it’s splattered with music, humor or thought. Eerie Tales from the School of Screams is a graphic novel that oozes with things that go bump in the night. Its thick presence, patient pacing, and varied short stories elicit a variety and genuine dread, with just a grimace of awareness that makes this graphic novel resonate with those aged eight and up.

Eerie Tales from the School of Screams is an all-age graphic novel that doubles as all-age horror. It’s scary, whilst maintaining humor, heart and creativity.

All-age graphic novel and all-age horror meet in a bar….

All Talk, a graphic novel on gang culture and a ‘good kid’ who dies young

All Talk is a mature graphic novel that you wish didn’t have to exist. It’s a graphic novel that’s laden with violence, occasional foul language and drug use that deftly illustrates the unspoken pressures that weigh down teens in urban areas that are prone to gangs. The story, in and of itself, is fascinating and a relatively simple one, albeit complex for those beings who are in its proximity. It’s the art in All Talk that takes this premise and magnifies it to something that makes readers think more about the story, even if they’re worlds away from where it might actually happen.

All Talk is a graphic novel for high school ages that unflinchingly looks at gangs, acting tough and the results that follow.

A mature graphic novel that serves as a modern allegory on gang culture

Looking Up is an early chapter book laugh fest, with lots of heart

The laugh-per-page ratio to a Stephan Pastis book is incredibly high. His collections of Pearls Before Swine and the Trubble Town graphic novel series are hilarious, observational, intelligent and some of the best bang for the buck in a book that you can invest in. I say “invest in” because every Pastis book that we’ve received or purchased has never left our house and sticks like glue in our forever library. We had heard about the Timmy Failure book series but hadn’t read any of them. They are less cartoon-illustrated books and more in line with a chapter book for upper elementary through middle school. Looking Up is a book that falls into that category. It also produces multiple laughs per page, gets you thinking, grinning, trying to figure out some jokes, and in the end, tugs at the heartstrings more than you expect.

Looking Up has the absurd humor and fun that Stephan Pastis is known for, but combines more heart and feels than you’re expecting.

Another Pastis piece of perfection, but with more heart than you’re expecting

Barb and the Battle for Bailiwick nails the all-age graphic novel tone

The audience, it’s all about the audience and finding to whom it’s speaking. I’m teaching an AP Language class now and that’s a key trait that we’re discussing about certain texts. In Barb and the Battle for Bailiwick the audience for this graphic novel entry is crystal clear. If you’re eight-years-old and like to read, this is your jam. If you’re eight years old or older and a reluctant reader, because reading isn’t cool and you’re parents are content to let your brain turn to Minecraft mush, then this is your jam. If you’re looking for an action-packed all-age graphic novel that screams with enthusiasm, runs with energy, and has humor for days, then this is your jam.

Barb and the Battle for Bailiwick, the third book in this all-age graphic novel series, is the action and humor antidote for (reluctant) readers to avoid a bad time.

This is the sign your looking for, go no farther

Misfit Mansion, an all-age graphic novel with just enough bite

Don’t judge a book by its cover. We all know that and I try, I really try to adhere to that mantra. However, with only so many hours during a week to read, it’s the cover that reels in one book over another. Misfit Mansion by Kay Davault is an all-age graphic novel that simultaneously embraces and keeps some of the clichés that live in neo-spooky books at bay. It’s surprisingly entertaining and will keep ages eight and up hooked with enough twists to keep things interesting. I say ‘surprisingly’ because it’s a graphic novel that snuck its way into our reading queue.

Misfit Mansion does resemble some graphic novels that didn’t measure up, but this one has enough variety to make it fun for girls aged eight and up.

A graphic novel that’ll connect with girls in grade 3 and up

Batter Up, Charlie Brown!, a Peanuts graphic is new, nostalgic awesomeness

The graphic novel genre is huge. It’s a massive cross section of books that can span any interest and are for any age. As proof of this, Batter Up, Charlie Brown!, it’s in the Peanuts Graphic Novels series on Simon Spotlight, and joins Snoopy Soars to Space and Adventures with Linus and Friends. There’s a timeless, classic aura that permeates every panel on every page of Batter Up, Charlie Brown! It’s comprised of six new, original stores that are punctuated with classic Sunday comics that Charles Schultz created.

Batter Up, Charlie Brown! is a Peanuts graphic novel that collects six new stories, some classic Sunday strips and reminds ages eight and up why it’s one of the best.

Timeless and classic, even when the stories are newly published

Family Style, a moving graphic novel proving that less is more

Graphic novels are not all superheroes in tights. Graphic novels are capable of teaching lessons, even those that are biographical or non-fiction. It’s important to remind yourself of those basic truths every once in a while. Family Style, Memories of an American from Vietnam is a powerful and moving graphic novel whose potentially unattractive topic matter (to some) is made palatable with the thing that binds us all: food.

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham demonstrates the ability of a graphic novel to reach past where people think the medium should be.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Fann Club: Batman Squad, big laughs in text and art for this all-age winner

Fann Club: Batman Squad is not a story that exists in the multiverse. There also isn’t a typo in the book’s cover. Once you see the cover it’s obvious that it’s a graphic novel intent on making elementary school-age readers and up laugh, which it succeeds at very quickly. Our sometimes surly 13-year-old picked up Fann Club: Batman Squad, plopped himself on the sofa, and proceeded to read it. This is worth noting because he’s an avid reader, but mainly sticks to mglit. “This is from the Catwad guy, isn’t it?”, he asked. Yeah, some readers might know Jim Benton from that, but they also might recognize his work from the Dear Dumb Diary book series, Franny K. Stein books, Victor Shmud or his cartooning work. For me, the most entertaining was Attack of the Stuff, which was criminally ignored and still is by most elementary school libraries that I visit. Fann Club: Batman Squad is a Jim Benton book because it’s his style, set against the background of a young boy who knows everything about Batman.

Fann Club: Batman Squad is an original graphic novel that aims at elementary school ages, but covers ages eight and up.

Proof that great IP can cross demographics and still entertain.