My Classroom Library’s Top 10 Graphic Novels

The highest checkout numbers in my classroom library went to graphic novels.  This is certainly due to their popularity. I think it might also be due to the fact that they can be read quickly. That said, I know students who would check one out and read it multiple times.

Here, in ascending order are the most popular graphic novels in my classroom library.

#10 – El Deafo by Cece Bell

 

#9 – Brain Camp  by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, and Faith Erin Hicks

 

#8 – Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks

 

#7 – This One Summer  by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

 

#6 –  Boxers by Gene Luen Yang

 

#5 –  Level Up by Gene Luen Yang

 

#4 – Primates by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

 

#3- Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

 

#2 – The Dumbest Idea Ever by Jimmy Gownley

 

#1 – Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Hallow Reads

Last week, I book talked five books with some Halloweenie connection.

The scariest book was the first one, Coraline,  by Neil Gaiman.

I admitted to the kids that I had never read the book or seen the movie. I told them that Iknew enough about Gaiman and the book to know that it twists reality in a way that seems eerily possible and that seemed to intrigue a few students.

Next up was Raina Telgemeier’s Ghosts, a graphics novel to steer us into safer territory, since I don’t really read scary books.

Many students had read Telgemeier’s other books and that was enough of a recommendation.

On Wednesday, I told them about My Zombie Hamster, by Havelock McCreely. Zombies and humor seem a perfect combination for sixth graders.

Thursday, I told them about a new one in our classroom library, The Accidental Afterlife of Thomas Marsden by Emma Trevayne. This book gave me a chance to explain a little of the history of grave robbers.

The last book I told them about was one of this year’s OBOB books: Zombie Baseball Beatdown  by Paolo Bacigalupi.

I’m not yet sure what I will book talk today. I think I will decide once I am in my classroom. I will take a few minutes to leaf through the book bins and choose the 5 books of the week.

 

 

Awkward!

Unlike awesome, awkward is not a cognate of awe (a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder). No, awkward, comes from Middle English awk (backward, perverse, clumsy).  And that is just how the protagonist of Svetlana Chmakova’s graphic novel, Awkward, feels as she begins middle school.

Publisher’s Summary:

Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don’t get noticed by the mean kids.

Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar interests and join them.

On her first day at her new school, Penelope–Peppi–Torres reminds herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in the hall, Jaime Thompson, she’s already broken the first rule, and the mean kids start calling her the “nerder girlfriend.” How does she handle this crisis? By shoving poor Jaime and running away!

Falling back on rule two and surrounding herself with new friends in the art club, Peppi still can’t help feeling ashamed about the way she treated Jaime. Things are already awkward enough between the two, but to make matters worse, he’s a member of her own club’s archrivals–the science club! And when the two clubs go to war, Peppi realizes that sometimes you have to break the rules to survive middle school!

There’s lot to love here: genuine characters, characters of color, multiethnic families, disabled characters, a rip-roaring debate on the merits of Art vs, Science and a boy-girl relationship that isn’t romantic. Perfect for fans of Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl and Raina Telgemeier’s Smile.

Happy Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week (BBW) is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2015 celebration will be held Sept. 27-Oct. 3. BBW was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, and many more go unreported.

The 10 most challenged titles of 2014 were:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Source: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Why Challenged: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depictions of bullying

Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday Source: Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday Why Challenged: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”

The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Why Challenged: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”

The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini Bloomsbury Publishing Source: Bloomsbury Publishing Why Challenged: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence

The Perks of Being a Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky MTV Books/Simon & Schuster Source: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster Why Challenged: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”

Drama By Raina Telgemeier Graphix/Scholastic Source: Graphix/Scholastic Why Challenged: sexually explicit

Chinese Handcuffs By Chris Crutcher Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Source: Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Why Challenged: depiction of incest, rape, animal torture, teen drug use, breaking and entering, illegal use of a video camera, profanity directed to a school principal, and graphic sexual references

The Giver By Lois Lowry HMH Books for Young Readers Source: HMH Books for Young Readers Why Challenged: depictions of adolescent drug use, suicide, and lethal injections

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Source: Vintage/Knopf Doubleday Why Challenged: mature content, social issues

Looking for Alaska By John Green Dutton Books/Penguin Random House Source: Dutton Books/Penguin Random House Why Challenged: Sexual content, inappropriate/graphic language

 

A sequel

Very often, I am disappointed by sequels. At best, I find a sequel equal to the first book. I was pleasantly surprised to find Sisters by Raina Telgemeier BETTER than Smile, which was excellent.

 

Perhaps that’s because it brought back memories of car trips as a child, sharing the backseat with my twin sister, and the love-hate relationships only sisters can have.

The story is centered around a family summer car trip to Colorado, without Dad. embedded into the stories are flashbacks of Raina’s desire for a baby sister and the reality of what having one actually means.Their relationship is rocky and doesn’t improve when a baby brother arrives. It is only once in Colorado that they begin to realize what it means to be a sister and start working on building a better relationship.

A fun, quick read in Telgemeier’s trademark style.

A little “Recess” break

What do you get when you ask a group of graphic novelists to collaborate?

Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Dav Pilkey, Dan Santat, Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, Ursula Vernon, Eric Wight and Gene Yang all contribute short pieces on the theme of every kid’s favorite subject: recess. They all come at it from a different able, but they are all really fun to read.

Some stories involve favorite characters like Babymouse and the Lunch Lady. Others are complete originals, but they are all wonderful. These are perfect for the end of July: light, graphic and brief, in case, like me, you feel the need for a nap along the way.

Short book. Short review. Now, enjoy the trailer.