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

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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.2. By Natsu Hyuuga. Art by Nekokurage. Square Enix Manga, $10.99 (9781646090716). 

Maomao’s adventures as the official royal test taster continue! In this volume, Maomao faces the intrigues of the royal court while dealing with poisoning attempts against the Emperor’s wives.

Asadora! v.4. By Naoki Urasawa. VIZ Media / VIZ Signature, $14.99 (9781974722969). 

A lighthouse has been attacked by something resembling a giant creature, and Asa is called in by the government to find the monster before the Tokyo Olympics. With the monster’s reappearance, Asa continues the search for her family.

Blue Flag, v.8. By KAITO. VIZ Media, $12.99 (9781974720941). 

The conclusion of Blue Flag sees almost everyone’s secrets revealed and concludes the main characters’ romantic arcs.

Blue Giant Omnibus, v.1-2. By Shinichi Ishizuka. 2020. Seven Seas Entertainment, $19.99 (9781645058649). 

Dai is graduating soon, and while his friends are all cramming for exams, he spends every day playing his sax. Dai is going to be the world’s greatest jazz musician, and to be the best, he will need more than just passion.

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Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of My Body in Pieces by Marie Noëlle Hébert

My Body in Pieces Cover Art

My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert
Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 9781773064840

My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert is a book that allows many to feel heard. Teenagers today are challenged with taboo issues that our society has finally come to address. This memoir allows one to feel connected by means of learning the importance of self-confidence. Through graphite images, the author shares her journey with low self-esteem along with her desire to have a “perfect” body.  

This book is ideal for a library’s graphic novel collection for young adults because any young adult can relate to the many messages that the author shares that center around loving yourself. While the story is intense and indirectly discusses suicide, this book can be read and discussed in the home, during support groups, or in therapy sessions as well. It is a great book to open up a conversation with teens about self-esteem and body image through the challenges of the author. Teens will be able to relate via the black-and-white drawings, and they will also be able to use this as a time to reflect about their own personal self-esteem challenges. 

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Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, July 18 Edition

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

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vol. 1: High School is Hell created by Joss Whedon; written by Jordie Bellaire; illustrated by Dan Mora; colored by Raul Angulo
Boom! Studios
Publication Date: May 2019
ISBN: 9781684153572

High School Is Hell collects the first four volumes of a rebooted Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Boom! Studios. The reboot uses the actor likenesses and Joss Whedon characters, but imagines them in high school in 2019, rather than 1997. Willow is out, Xander is on tumblr, and Cordelia is… nice. The writer has room to play with plot and timelines and the various ways our culture has changed in the last twenty years, but underneath it’s the same Scooby Gang, nursing crushes and slaying demons.

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#QP2019 Nominees Round Up, August 7 Edition

Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by Terry Blas, Molly Muldoon, and Matthew Seely
Oni Press
Publication Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 9781620104811 

Jesse finds herself stuck at Camp Bloom for the summer, a “get fit” camp for overweight teens. Hardly the fun summer at a fashion program she had been hoping for. When she and fellow campers, Noah, Tony, and Kate, witness the murder of a camp counselor in the woods by another staff member, Camp Bloom becomes a whole lot more interesting, not to mention dangerous.

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#GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, July 26 Edition

Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by Terry Blas, Molly Muldoon and Matthew Seely
Oni Press
Published April 24, 2018
ISBN 978-1620104811

Four teens are set to spend their summer at a weight-loss camp deep in the woods of Oregon. Camp newcomer, Jesse, quickly bonds with Noah, Tony and Kate after Jesse and Noah witness a murder while sneaking some time away from the camp. A blurry photo reveals the murderer to be someone on the camp’s staff, and the four teens follow clues that lead them to discover many hidden secrets about Camp Bloom’s staff and campers…and even themselves.

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2015 Young Adult Services Symposium Preconference: Panels & Pages

YALSA’s 2015 Young Adult Services Symposium included a pre-conference session on using graphic novels to inspire programming, recommended titles, a discussion with comics creators Terry Blas, Faith Erin Hicks, Mariko Tamaki, Gene Luen Yang, Leila del Duca, Joe Keatinge, and a discussion with teachers who use graphic novels in classroom instruction.

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Robin Brennar, Teen Librarian and runs No Flying No Tights website, was our moderator.

First, librarians Cara and Emily talked about graphic novel readers advisory and using graphic novels in teen programming:

Who is your Batman?

Comic books always change. Your Batman may be different from your teens’ Batman. Lego Batman may be the Batman that resonates most with your teens! Keep this in mind when you do readers advisory and programming, your ideas and tastes may not match theirs. Continue reading 2015 Young Adult Services Symposium Preconference: Panels & Pages