Middle School Graphic Novels Booktalk

“A picture is worth a

thousand words.”

How do photographs and pictures make it easier to understand

a story?

What are graphic novels?

• Tell the story through pictures

• Look like comic books• Contain dialogue balloons,

panels, sound effects• Can be any genre—humour,

classic literature, romance, adventure, mythology…

El Deafo• Panda Award book for this

year• Main character= Cece• Author = Cece• All characters are human-

ish rabbits

Smile• Sixth grade Raina wants to

be a normal girl, but an accident at camp severely injures her two front teeth.

• Also autobiographical

Sisters• Panda Award book for this

year• Sisters learn to get along

when their parents start having problems

Big Nate• Several in series (including

on Overdrive)• Trouble seems to find Nate

everywhere he goes

Robot Dreams• Dog and Robot become

friends, but they are separated (Dog leaves Rusty Robot stuck in the sand)

• Dog tries to make new friends but has difficulty

• Robot dreams of far away places

Jellaby• Portia just moved into a new

neighborhood with her mom (father has disappeared)

• She has trouble making friends until she meets a purple monster in the woods behind her house.

Ghostopolis• Garth gets zapped into a

world of ghosts, called Ghostopolis

• He finds he has powers the ghosts don’t have

• The evil leader of Ghostopolis wants to use Garth’s power against the ghosts

Cardboard• A boy must save his

community when cardboard creatures come to life

Babymouse• Bored with her

unglamourous life, Babymouse tries to get invited to an exclusive sleepover party

• 18 in the series (we have first 5)

Squish• Adventures of a school

amoeba who loves Twinkies

• We have first six (#7 just came out in August)

• About the author/illustrator…

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

• Very unique format—told entirely in “stuff”

• Like going through someone’s trash can and learning about their life!

Eighth Grade Is Making Me Sick

• Sequel to Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

Boxers & Saints

• Set in China in 1898 (The Boxer Rebellion)

• Tells two sides of the conflict in two books

Maus

• Story of a father and son captured during Holocaust

• Different races are represented by animals (Jews are helpless mice; Germans are vicious cats; Polish are pigs

Boxers & Saints

• Set in China in 1898 (The Boxer Rebellion)

• Tells two sides of the conflict in two books

The Arrival

• No words at all• Man leaves his wife and

family, boards a ship, and travels to make a new life for his family

• Immigrant experience