Graphic novels | Page 7 of 7

Trubble Town 2, The Why-Why’s Gone Bye-Bye, too 4 tout

Disparate is an adjective that I absolutely love. I’m currently teaching 8^th grade ELA and I used that term in conversation when comparing things that have nothing to very little in common, and then trying to make a compelling argument as to why they belong in the same classification. A cursory glance at the pages of Trubble Town 2, The Why-Why’s Gone Bye-Bye would yield the same conversation. That is if I were to tell you that this graphic novel is flat-out hilarious, weird, creative and constantly gives readers a smile, even when they don’t know what’s going on. It is.

Trubble Town 2: The Why-Why’s Gone Bye-Bye is a time-shifting, absurdly hilarious all age graphic novel that ages eight and up will celebrate.

Stop, elaborate and listen

Witch For Hire, pointy-hat good times that smells like teen spirit

Aspects of middle and high school represent the worst parts of agar. Agar is the gunk that’s collected in a petri dish. The school equivalent of agar gone bad are typically the entitled, popular, pretty without a conscious folk, jocks, bullies or those kids that have a chip on their shoulder for no meaningful reason. They’re the great heels in popular movies and will resonate with all readers in Witch For Hire. Witch For Hire is a graphic novel by Ted Naifeh that is 100% current, with real-world peer pressure and social strife that teens will encounter. It also adds a fabulous sense of dread, witches, and monsters that are just as real as the weight that popularity and social media add to today’s teens.

Witch For Hire is a graphic novel with great heels, a timely teen plot and an unlikely hero you can really hang your witch hat on.

Teen reading fun with enough witch magic to make it sizzle

Alcatoe and the Turnip Child, retro/modern charming graphic novel magic

Fables get a bad rap with upper elementary and middle school students. I taught a class to ESL students that were comprised mostly of fables, you know, those stories that teach lessons. And if there’s one thing that some kids that age don’t want, it’s a lesson. Alcatoe and the Turnip Child is not a fable. It’s also not a fairy tale and not entirely a folktale either. To some readers, Alcatoe could have elements of all of those things, but for us it’s a beautifully paced book about kids, a grumpy witch, the quaint town they live in, and magic.

Alcatoe and the Turnip Child is a graphic novel with a timeless vibe, a slightly evil undercurrent and an irrepressibly quirky demeanor.

Don’t call it a folk story, unless you want to

Neurocomic, a graphic novel on the brain for middle school and up

The other day in the podcast and over on Youtube I mentioned that I read a graphic novel and had no idea of how to accurately describe its content. It’s not that it was bad or poorly presented; it’s just that the subject matter was high level and required a second reading. Having said that, even after reading Neurocomic twice I’m still unable to tell you the details from memory, despite the fact that I enjoyed reading it both times. That is also quite ironic or appropriate, given the fact that Neurocomic is about the brain, memories, and how they’re made, or in my case, forgotten.

Neurocomic has the seemingly impossible task of making a graphic novel on the brain approachable and entertaining and nails it to the cerebellum, in a good way.

A graphic novel that makes the brain understandable? Yup.

Investigators: Heist and Seek, a pun-laden, mandatory graphic novel for 8 and up

It’s great to see things mature and evolve as new books come out in a series. Investigators is not that book series. Instead, Investigators came into the all-age graphic novel space as a plucky, genuinely very funny elementary school book that older readers will also want to jump into. When the first Investigators graphic novel came out we said something along the lines that it was the next must-read book series for elementary school readers and that there was a new captain (underpants) in town. Now, five books after their debut, Investigators: Heist and Seek is still providing dependable, smart laughs, all the while making young readers enjoy something that they need to do.

Investigators: Heist and Seek is the sixth book in this mandatory graphic novel series for ages 8 and up. It’s smart, funny, positive and one that kids will seek out and share.

#6 and still rolling in the wit

Tokyo Rose-Zero Hour, a WWII graphic novel you only think that you know

As an adult, there are things that I know about, and things that I know. I knew of Tokyo Rose, but the actual reason why I knew about her was a mystery. However, I thought about it and realized that the largest reason it resonated with me was its inclusion in that David Lee Roth song. But then I realized that song was actually Yankee Rose, which wasn’t that bad in hindsight. After traipsing down 80’s nostalgia I kicked the pebbles in my mind and knocked over a memory about Tokyo Rose having something to do with WWII and broadcasting. Her story was a Venn Diagram of propaganda, nationalism, the evils of war, politics, and the massive numbers of innocents who get caught in their nation’s crossfire. After reading Tokyo Rose-Zero Hour I realized that I had a couple of her main characteristics correct, but was missing most of the major plot points.

Tokyo Rose-Zero Hour is a non-fiction graphic novel that’s deep in story and details about propaganda, people and WWII.

History in graphic novel form can be challenging, this nails it