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Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Nominations Round-Up, Fall

Great Graphic Novels Roundup Art — Due to the large number of nominees, not all titles are shown here. See full list below.

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.

The Apothecary Diaries, v.1. By Natsu Hyuuga. Art by Nekokurage. 2020. Square Enix Manga, $10.99 (9781646090709).

Maomao is a palace servant who was sold into service to the Emperor. After saving one of the Emperor’s heirs, she is promoted to food taster, where she is able to use her skills as an apothecary.

Artie and the Wolf Moon. By Olivia Stephens. Lerner Publishing Group / Graphic Universe, $16.99 (9781728420202).

Artie discovers that her mother is a werewolf and that she has abilities of her own. While attempting to discover what happened to her missing father, she comes across other supernatural enemies.

Asadora, v.3. By Naoki Urasawa. VIZ Media / VIZ Signature, $14.99 (9781974720118).

When she was young, Asa survived a devastating typhoon, but on the same day saw a mysterious footprint in the town where she lived with her family. Now older, Asa becomes involved in a mission to stop the creature who made the footprint.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Nominations Round-Up, Fall

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.

Amari and the Night Brothers. By B.B. Alston. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (9781725418295).

Amari knows her brother isn’t dead. A briefcase in his closet leads her to a magical world—and the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, the place Quinton was working when he disappeared. Amari must use all her smarts and her heart to find out what really happened.

Artie and the Wolf Moon. By Olivia Stephens. Lerner Publishing Group/Graphic Universe, $16.99 (9781728420202).

After Artie finds out her mother is a werewolf and that she lost her father to vampires, she must then battle vampires to save her friends and new wolf family while trying to practice her own potential wolf abilities.

Before the Ever After. By Jacqueline Woodson. 2020. Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen Books, $17.99 (9780399545436).

Being the son of Zachariah 44, football star, has always felt like a dream to ZJ. But recently it’s been more like a nightmare, with his dad’s headaches, memory problems, and dramatic mood changes defining life in their house.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers by Don Brown

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers Cover Art

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks by Don Brown
Etch/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: August 10. 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-22357-3

Award winning author and illustrator Don Brown takes a look at the infamous 9/11 attacks and explores the tragic events of that day and its far-reaching, worldwide effects. This graphic novel encompasses the story of that day and beyond, incorporating personal stories with compelling illustrations.

Brown has managed to tell a complex story in a simplified and focused way that has the reader turning the pages quickly. The emotion of the day and the immediate aftermath is felt deeply, while moving on to the hope of recovery and the investigation into the attack’s origins. This is an easily accessible way for the reader to satisfy any curiosity surrounding that fateful day in our recent American history.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Wednesday Books/Macmillan
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1250765826

When Lara returns to her hometown after spending the summer in the Outer Banks, she’s shocked that the most popular guy in school, Chase Harding, is suddenly interested in her. Everyone expects her to be interested in him too, but Lara has a secret. She can’t forget about her summer fling with Jasmine. Before Jasmine, Lara had never considered that she might be interested in girls and guys. When Jasmine unexpectedly shows up at Lara’s school on the first day, Lara has to decide whether she wants to be with Chase or give her summer romance a chance to become something more.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani

Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani
First Second / Macmillan
Publication Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 9781250156365

Follow this enchanting time-traveling jolt through history with Shaheen and her cousin, Tannaz, as they search for Shaheen’s missing father. One moment, Shaheen is involved in an endless discussion with dad about his timeless vinyl collection (though partly tuning him out). The next moment, she is wondering when he will be home and why he isn’t answering calls. Shaheen and Tannaz decide to pretend they are solving a Nancy Drew case as they whisk through town visiting shops such as Otis Street Records. It is here that they are confronted with the “Jukebox.” Could this be the timeless classic involved in Shaheen’s dad’s missing case? Or could this be a dead end?

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, September 26 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Great Graphic Novels nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

The Blue Road: A Fable of Migration by Wayde Compton and April de la Noche Milne
Arsenal Pulp Press
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1551527772

Lacuna is a girl without a family or a home. She lives alone in a swamp made of ink, but with the help of Polaris, a will-o’-the-wisp, she decides to travel to the Northern Kingdom, in the hopes of finding other people. The only way to get there, though, is to travel the strange and dangerous Blue Road. Along the way, Lacuna must overcome trials, including a Thicket of Tickets and a stubborn guard at the Rainbow Border. At the end of her journey, she reaches a city that will test her ability to survive and her ingenuity in the face of adversity. Continue reading Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, September 26 Edition

#ALAMW19 Recap: Interviewing Don Brown, author of The Unwanted, 2019 Nonfiction Award Winner

If you were living in a refugee camp and met a non-refugee stranger in need, would you be willing to give them the coat off your back? What if you were thousands of miles away from home, and that was the only coat that you owned? During his time at the Syrian refugee camps in Greece, this is the selflessness and generosity that Don Brown and his family experienced from the refugees there. In his book, The Unwanted: Stories of Syrian Refugees, the 2019 YALSA Nonfiction Award Winner, Brown (the book’s writer and illustrator) imparts this message, that Syrian refugees are ordinary individuals placed in extraordinary circumstances, forced to make terrifying decisions but maintaining their humanity, generosity, and kindness.

Continue reading #ALAMW19 Recap: Interviewing Don Brown, author of The Unwanted, 2019 Nonfiction Award Winner

2019 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalists Announced!

And here’s the second moment you all have been waiting for! The 2019 Nonfiction Award Finalists!

The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor written by Sonia Sotomayor
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam written by Elizabeth Partridge
The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler written and illustrated by John Hendrix
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees written and illustrated by Don Brown

Continue reading 2019 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalists Announced!

#GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, November 8 Edition

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: September 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-81015-1

Don Brown’s latest graphic novel gives a basic description of the war in Syria that has caused millions of Syrians to flee the country and become refugees in neighboring countries and Europe along with the war’s political, geographic, and cultural implications. Through quotes from refugees the book shows how they have suffered in their home country and how they are suffering as refugees in other countries. Resources include a thorough bibliography and footnotes.

Continue reading #GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, November 8 Edition

#QP2018 Nominees Round Up: Graphic Novels and Manga

Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz and Antony Johnston
Candlewick Press
Publication Date: August 15, 2017
ISBN: 9780763692575

Glossy, full color graphics and an Alex who is drawn like an older teen make this fast-paced action-adventure graphic novel an excellent choice for reluctant readers. Continue reading #QP2018 Nominees Round Up: Graphic Novels and Manga