In Praise of the Graphic Novel

     As an elementary librarian, I am privy to the ebb and flow in the popularity of children's books. It's reflected in what books I order, which ones I have multiple copies of, and which ones get weeded from the collection. Children's books are a very real part of my everyday world, and I love helping kids find a book that they love. However, I have recently re-defined my mission as a librarian from 'getting kids to love books' to more of a 'help children discover the joy of reading for pleasure.' In this era of incessant testing, our children are being taught to read for information, in order to answer questions, and the joy and pleasure that reading can bring are being lost. 

    Enter . . . the graphic novel. I am a latecomer to the joys of reading graphic novels. When I first became a librarian, they were just starting their rise in popularity. The library I inherited had a reasonable collection. But I soon realized it wasn't enough. The demand for graphic novels increased steadily every year, heck, every quarter. I was circulating a lot of them, but to be honest, I held a bit of a snobbish attitude about them. I would never have said it out loud - because I was just happy that kids were reading - but I sometimes wished kids would check out 'real' books. It didn't take long for me to lose that attitude, because the popularity of graphic novels meant that kids were reading through them, quickly, and demanding more, and I really began to see the benefits. Kids loved them. Kids were reading. A lot. And more studies were done about the benefits in reading comprehension and vocabulary expansion that graphic novels were providing. Importantly, it had become clear that graphic novels were not just a means to an end - a jumping off point to other kinds of books - but a vibrant and valuable entity on their own merit. I became a convert to the idea that graphic novels, comics and manga were a positive addition to the reading world of kids. But I hadn't yet developed a personal affinity for them. 

    It's hard to pinpoint just which graphic novel made me a real fan of the genre. One thing that really helped me along is that I joined the selection committee for Guys Read/Gals Read. This is a locally developed program (shout out to the amazing and tireless Greg Hill!) that encourages reading for the sheer pleasure of it. On this committee, I had to read, assess and score graphic novels to be read during lunchtime sessions to fourth-grade boys and girls across the district. The graphics selected are always hugely popular and in demand. This definitely started me down the road to pure graphic novel enjoyment. One of the first I remember really enjoying was the Newbery Honor-winning El Deafo by Cece Bell. Two more graphic novels have been recognized by the Newbery committee since - Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson won an honor in 2016 and New Kid by Jerry Craft won the Newbery Medal in 2020, the first to do so. These mainstream awards have done much to legitimize the genre in the eyes of parents and educators. I am continually impressed by the quality of stories coming out, and I'm always scrambling to keep up for the sake of my patrons. 

    My collection in the library includes not just graphic novels, but also a small amount of manga and a lot of serial comics (such as Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes, as well as the Alaskan-based favorites Tundra by Chad Carpenter and Nuggets, by Jamie Smith), but the traditional graphic novels are my favorite. What follows are a list of popular series, as well as ones that I have greatly enjoyed myself or that are incredibly popular in my library.

Popular Series:       Dog Man - Dav Pilkey 

                                Mr. Wolf's Class - Aron Nels Steinke

                                Sunny Side Up series - Jennifer Holm

                                Amulet - Kazu Kibuishi

                                Real Friends series - Shannon Hale

                                Surfside Girls - Kim Dwinell

                                5 Worlds - Mark Siegel

                                Wings of Fire - Barry Deutsch/Tui Sutherland

                                Emmie & Friends - Terri Libenson

                                Space Boy - Stephen McCranie

                                Cleopatra in Space - Mike Maihack

                                HiLo - Judd Winick

                                Witch Boy - Molly Ostertag

                                The Okay Witch - Emma Steinkellner

                                Sheets - Breanna Thumler

                                Lightfall - Tim Probert

                                Peapod Farm series - Lucy Knisley

                                Witches of Brooklyn - Sophie Escabasse

                                Tea Dragon Society - Katie O'Neill

Stand Alones:         This Was Our Pact - Ryan Andrews

                                Brightly Woven - Leigh Dragoon/Alexandra Bracken

                                Mega Robo Bros - Neill Cameron

                                Be Wary of the Silent Woods - Svetlana Chmakova

                                When Stars are Scattered - Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson

                                All's Faire in Middle School - Victoria Jamieson

                                Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer - Gillian Goetz

                                Stargazing by Jen Wang

                                Snapdragon - Kat Leyh

                                Catherine's War - Julia Billet

                                Beetle & the Hollowbones - Aliza Layne     

                                Anne of Green Gables - Mariah Marsden (adapted from the classic)

                                The Rema Chronicles: Realm of the Blue Mist - Amy Kim Kibuishi

                                Too Pig to Fail - Rob Harrell

                                The Awakening Storm (City of Dragons #1) - Jaimal Yogis

        So, for any of you educators, fans, and creators of middle-grade literature who may be reading this, I hope this gives you a jumping-off point to begin your exploration of graphic novels for kids, that is, if you haven't started yet on this journey. This list is by no means exhaustive, and is simply representative of the books that have been seeing high circulation in my library, or that I have particularly enjoyed. To give evidence of my true conversion from skeptic to consumer, yesterday when I was at the public library, I went to pick up one hold book and came home with five graphic novels as well. May you all be equally enamored.