Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Ready or Not, a teen-graphic novel that’s build just for them

Ready or Not is a graphic novel that isn’t quite what you think it will be. The cover shows a group of four upper-teenage friends on the roof discussing and looking like the typical teens who might have just graduated from high school. One of them is even wearing a beanie in early August, which is a fashion statement for the only 17-year-olds or those who can’t discern when their body temperature is uncomfortably hot and if only there were something simple that they could do like remove a wool cap. Now get off of my lawn. Ready or Not is an example of the graphic novel as a communication device for high school readers who need to see that people are just like them. Other teens, even ones that are shown in a graphic novel, but are in their same generation, will empathize with the characters and hopefully apply those lessons to themselves.

Ready or Not is a coming-of-age graphic novel geared at high school students that’s better than you think it is.

high school teen Breakfast Club Jam

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel is where the movie is as good as the book

Which came first the graphic novel, chapter book, or streaming movie? We’re reading something that surprised us as to which property came first and it clarified why certain things are made. Most of the time when I read a graphic novel with a known previous release vehicle, it’s because the story has proved to be so popular that it logically translates to something different. Spy School is mglit that was like that. The books are awesome, and while I didn’t really care for the graphic novel, I understand why it was made. I’m sure that Bunnicula will be like that for some people. That’s a book that was first published in 1979 as an early reader chapter book, became an animated television show, spawned a couple of literary follow-ups, and is now a graphic novel. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel successfully turns the classic chapter book into an engaging, funny and age-appropriate scary read for elementary school.

The floppy-eared legend comes to graphic novels

Harriet’s Ruffled Feathers, an illustrated avian book that charms and educates

Can you believe people still wear fur coats? That’s what some people think. However, let’s take that idea, go back more than 100 years and imagine that real fur coats, as well as, other apparel, are the norm. Harriet’s Ruffled Feathers, The Woman Who Saved Millions of Birds examines that time when millions of birds were killed annually for the purpose of brightly colored feathers. Those feathers were then used to accessorize women’s hats. This was a time when garden parties and the women who attended them were all the rage.

Harriet’s Ruffled Feathers is the story of how the Audubon Society came to be, via a woman who realized that the plumes in her hat came with a birdly price.

You’d have to be a bird brain not to dig this book

is was, a tongue twister title with an almost wordless, zen-like interior

I make no mistake that I don’t get poetry. When it’s poetry that I enjoy, it’s packed in a stealthy wrapper that somehow conceals its hazy angles and esoteric nature. is was, in no way presents itself as a book that’s not poetic in nature. However, the book is so sparse on words and heavy on gorgeous illustrations that it has as much in common with a wordless book as it does with poetry. But then you go back to the title for the book, is was, you might be thinking it’s some high-brow book that most elementary students won’t like or understand.

How much was could and is chuck was