Graphic Novels

Measuring Up

Leave a comment

by Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some pressure on a character by a parent, which may be triggering for some. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Cici and her family live in Taiwan. She’s happy; she has her A-ma there to keep her company while her parents work and to teach her how to cook. So when Cici’s parents take jobs in America, Cici is heartbroken. Especially since A-Ma isn’t coming. Life in America is strange, and Cici wants to find a way to help A-Ma visit, so she enters a cooking competition for kids. The only problem is that Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese dishes, and not “American”. She learns about Julia Child (yay!) and practices and practices to become better. And yet, she doesn’t want to lose her own identity and heritage.

What a delightful book! I loved the meshing of the immigrant story and food. There is a huge metaphor about how immigrants have to balance assimilation and their own heritage. There’s also a theme about finding your own path and not the one that your parents set out for you. I loved the characters, and how Xu drew them. She also met the challenge of drawing food and cooking, which isn’t easy.

I adored this one.

Across the Tracks

Leave a comment

by Alverne Ball and Stacy Robinson
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There are depictions of violence, including lynching. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

In the early 1900s, due to Jim Crow, the Blacks in Tulsa developed their own community. They had stores, libraries, doctors, and were a thriving community. Of course, because of white supremacy, the white people in town couldn’t have the Blacks getting all successful. They invented a reason to arrest and lynch a Black kid, and then, when the Black families rose up in defense, burned the Black part of town, killing and unhousing families. The Black people built things back, but it wasn’t ever the same, and the white people swept history under the rug.

This is a very good history of that moment in time, highlighting the achievements of the Black people — doctors, lawyers, businessmen, educators — as well as the maliciousness of the white people. The text is pretty frank, and the art reflects that: it’s realistic and descriptive.

I think this is an important graphic novel and one that everyone should read. But, I’m not sure it was a great graphic novel It was lacking something to bring me into the story – perhaps because it was history and not really a story. it lacked a personal element, something to make me really care when the Black part of town burned. (That sounded harsh; I mean I care that white people were awful and racist and destructive. I just meant the story lacked an emotional core, if that makes sense.)

Recommended for the history.

Chunky

Leave a comment

by Yehudi Mercado
Support your local independent bookstore: Buy it there!
Content: There is talk about weight loss and body issues, including some bullying, which might be triggering. It’s in the middle-grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Hudi is a bit overweight and his parent and doctors think he should join a sport to lose weight. The only thing that keeps Hudi engaged in the sports — he’d rather be telling jokes — is his imaginary friend, Chunky, who is Hudi’s own personal cheerleader. But when Hudi gets in with a group of boys who want him to be something other than he is, Chunky and Hudi get into a fight (can you get into a fight with your imaginary friend?) and Hudi has to decide what’s truly important.

I wanted to like this one. It’s got a Jewish Latinx main character (and author). It’s sometimes funny. But it mostly just made me uncomfortable. I suppose there are some kids out there who might like it, and perhaps it’s good for representation and empathy’s sake, but mostly this was a hard no from me.

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms

1 Comment

by Crystal Frasier, illustrated by Val Wise, lettered by Oscar O. Jupiter
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some bullying and a boy who won’t take no for an answer (though nothing “bad” happens). It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore, but I’d say 5th grade and up would enjoy it.

Annie is smart, but has a problem: she’s often antagonistic and her high school counselor thinks she needs to join something to show colleges that she can actually work with other people. She suggests going out for the cheerleading team. Bebe is an out trans girl, the captain of the cheer squad, but her parents are unhappy with her grades. The two of them form a team: Annie will help Bebe with her grades, and Bebe will help Annie become, well, more likable.

I went in thinking this was going to be a “cheerleader” book – yes, I have some deeply ingrained biases against cheerleaders — but came away absolutely loving this one. I liked the diversity on the team, not just ethnicities, but also shapes and sizes. It defied the expectations that a cheerleader has to look one certain way. I also appreciated how the cheerleaders were allies — the book very subtly teaches allies how to be better ones — and accepting of Bebe. It’s a simple story, but there are complex emotions and the art is good at reflecting what the characters are feeling.

I hope there is more in this series; I would love to spend more time with these characters.

Cranky Chicken

Leave a comment

by Katherine Battersby
Support your local independent bookstore: Buy it there!
Content: To be honest, this is more of an early chapter book than a graphic novel. Think of it one step up from Elephant and Piggie. It’s in the Beginning Chapter book section (grades 1-2) of the bookstore.

Cranky Chicken is cranky. That’s just how it is. And then one day, she inadvertently kicks a leaf off a worm, and suddenly Cranky has a friend (which she’s not sure she wants): Speedy the Worm. From there, the book is a hilarious exploration of them getting to know each other and becoming friends.

Oh my goodness, this was so funny. I haven’t laughed this hard at a book this simple since Elephant & Piggie. Cranky Chicken is supposed to be cranky, but really he’s just charming and funny. I enjoyed Speedy’s optimism — it was just the right amount — and their adventures together. The drawings are simple but evocative and funny.

I know humor is subjective, but I found this one just delightful.

Friends Forever

Leave a comment

by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Real Friends, Best Friends
Content: There is talk of crushes and “going together” and mental illness. It’s in the middle-grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

It’s eighth grade, and Shannon finally feels like things are going to go Her Way. She’s basically found her people in the drama club and thinks she understands how to navigate middle school. Except, she doesn’t feel beautiful, compared to her best friend, Jenn. There are friendship ups and downs. Her classmates keep asking whether she and her other best friend, Andrei, are “going together”. It’s hard when everything everyone says sticks in her brain, rumbling around, making her question her worth. (I get that.) Is she “good enough”? Can she even be good enough? Will anyone really gruly get and like her?

This is such a smart book: Hale and Pham get not just the mid-1908s (it’s the 1987-1988 school year), but the inherent angst of being 13/14. There are good moments, ones where Hale captures the silliness of young teenagers, but also ones that she uses as teaching moments, like the time she was assaulted by a mall Santa. She is open about her mental illnesses, and the mistakes she made (and her parents made) as a teenager — most telling was the way he “threw” her appointment with a therapist. It was the 1982s; therapy was only for “bad” people, and she didn’t want to be seen that way. It does have a hopeful ending, though. And Pham’s art captures everything perfectly.

I am going to miss this series, but I can’t wait to see what Hale and Pham do next.

Graceling

Leave a comment

by Kristin Cashore, illustrated by Gareth Hinds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some violence and an implied sex scene. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Graceling, if I had to choose, is one of my favorite books of all time. So, I’m glad it exists in graphic novel form if only to draw in more readers to the world that Cashore has built. And I admit that I’ve been meaning to reread these before reading Winterkeep (I’ve been putting it off), and reading the graphic novel gave me a reason to read it without having to actually read it.

On the one hand, it was wonderful to be back in Katsa’s world, to see the story that Cashore built, follow its twists and turns. And Hinds’s illustrations are pretty great; I loved the way he illustrated the fights, and how he imagined Cashore’s world.

But I think the graphic novel diluted some of the impact of the novel (or maybe it’s just because I know what’s going to happen). It didn’t have the same punch that the novel did. I didn’t feel the same connection for the characters, the same dread. Maybe, though, it’ll inspire people to pick up the books. Or maybe Hinds will illustrate the other ones. Either way, I’m glad I got a chance to visit the world again.

Bingo Love Volume 1: Jackpot Edition

1 Comment

by Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge, Joy San, and Cardinal Rae
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some mention of sex. It’s in the Graphic Novel section in the bookstore.

It’s the 1960s, and Hazel has met and fallen in love with (over the course of four years) Mari. The problem, it’s the 1960s, and being a Black lesbian isn’t the most accepted thing. So Mari and Hazel break up, go their separate ways. And marry men, have children and grandchildren. But 50 years later, when Mari shows up back in Hazel’s life, they both realize that being true to who they really are is the choice they need to make. They get divorced from their husbands — their families aren’t terribly happy about that — and end up marrying each other, living out their days together.

I really appreciated a positive portrayal of Black lesbians. I appreciated the historical aspect of this: LGBTQ+ people have never had an easy time being out in public, and this was especially true in the past. I appreciated the positive portrayal of someone who was overweight her weight was never an issue, and it was something that contributed to making her beautiful.

I just didn’t particularly like the story. Perhaps it’s because I’m cis/het, but the whole story fell kind of flat for me. Let’s just say I wanted to like thi one more than I actually did.

The Best We Could Do

1 Comment

by Thi Bui
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is talk of violence. It’s in the Graphic Novels-Nonfiction section of the bookstore.

I fit this in among my reading for school, partially because we were reading books by Asian authors, and one that Bui illustrated (and won a Caldecott honor for), A Different Pond, was on the list. I figured it was a good opportunity to read her graphic memoir, which I’d been meaning to read for years. (This is a theme with this class: I’m catching up on ones I have meant to read!)

It’s mostly the story of her parents, their lives in Vietnam before and during the war. Bui is exploring their trauma and how it relates to her, especially after she gave birth to her son. Her family fled Vietnam and came to the United States when she was young, and her parents weren’t terribly demonstrative in their affection. Bui, as she got older, wanted to understand their stories, and where they came from, in order to understand them, and by extension, herself.

Her parents’ stories were fascinating, and I learned a lot about Vietnam, a country I sadly know very little about. Her art style was simple – mostly line drawing on a muted color background – but effectively portrayed emotion and the story she was trying to tell.

A very good graphic novel.

Hooky

Leave a comment

by Miriam Bonastre Tur
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some bullying, and a few intense moments. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

I picked this up because it looked cute (“ooh! Witches!”). K saw it when I cam e home and delcared that she loved Hooky and had been following it on Webtoons for ages. So, of course I had to read it.

The basic story is witch twins Dani and Dorian missed the bus to their witch school, and so have to fin alternative schooling for the year because they don’t want their (somewhat powerful) parents to find out they’re not at school. There are adventures involving a missing prince, a princess who is determined to rescue said prince, a soothsayer who has determined that one of the twins was going to be the next witch king, a witches gathering… and many opportunities for growth and figuring out oneself. That makes it sound pretty mundane, but it wasn’t. I adored this – it’s fun, it’s cute, it’s got intense moments, and you definitely get attache to the characters. I’m a little bit disappointed it’s not a single story – the book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I’m just glad I didn’t have to wait between segments!

It’s a cute fun graphic novel. I cant’ wait to read the rest of the story!