Any other comic book geeks here? My family's having a bit of a reunion soon and I've been charged with entertaining the cousins one afternoon, and I want to take them to the comic book store. (Ok, ok, mostly *I* just want to go to the comic book store, but still)
The hitch is, I find my knowledge of YA comics to be lacking, as I started reading comics when I was 16, and thus plenty old enough to start with
Sandman. My cousins are all between the ages of 9 and 14. So what's out there for them?
Off the top of my head I can really only think of
Runaways, and some of the Minx books (
The Plain Janes,
Regifters,
Burnout,
New York Four), though those are more for girls, and I've got three boys to worry about.
(Now that I think about it, do you think a boy who loved
The Spiderwick Chronicles would like Holly Black's
Good Neighbors graphic novel?)
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Bone! (
Bone Volume 1 by Jeff Smith) Also, if you're a Gaiman fan, there is a graphic novel version of
Coraline available now which is pretty good.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid might be good for the youngest cousins, depending on their reading level.
Message edited by its author, Jul 11, 2009, 1:04am.
I was never one for graphic novels, but I've fallen in love with Ursula Vernon's Digger, which can be read online here:
http://www.diggercomic.com/. It's been published in 4 volumes. It's not specifically YA, but I haven't noticed anything that parents might object to. She has others works that are YA though, that you can read about on her site.
While living and teaching in Japan I found that
Bleach and
Naruto were popular manga amongst my junior high school ages boys.
Avi's
City of Light, City of Dark can seem a bit dated in parts (no cell phones), but it's a good YA read. Never under-estimate the fun of the Ultimates - Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, etc., since they're largely updated and designed to appeal to a newer generation (think "reboot").
You can try out Gareth Hind's
Beowulf - he has a translation aimed at YA (you want Beowulf, not The Complete Beowulf). The pictures are very well done - Grendle's arm amputation is fantastic.
A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran has some really good fantasy elements, Arthurian and epic space fantasy - it's hard to explain - but it was started by a teenager and features two teen leads.
Electric Girl is a maybe - only because it's got more of a girl-feel to it, but there's an imp that causes things to go wrong and a dog, so it could go either way.
Oh - young boys always like
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - and they're even new classic now! Peter David has done some of the newer titles.
Asterix and Obelix are classic graphic novels before graphic novels were called graphic novels. They are also historically accurate, well, more or less. If you want a slice of ancient Roman/Gaulish history, check them out. My 13 and ten year old love them!
The variety of graphic novels is just amazing. Here in my library they account for about 25% of the total circulation. Of course, many students check out three in the morning, come back at lunch for another three and again at the end of school for yet another three!
One of my favorites is half illustrations and half narration,
The Invention of Hugo Cabret. You must check out the website mentioned in the afterword.
Another one I love I picked up in a book store and literally forgot where I was as I went through it.
The Arrival doesn't have a single word but tells an amazing story.
Caliber has amazing art work but may be too violent for middle schools. It's a clever Western version of King Arthur and Excalibur.
7> They are classics.
Joann Sfar is brilliant (a twisted mix of innocence and goofiness), and he creates works for both children and adults (so if kids decide they like him, they can continue reading him later on in life!)
I really love
Little Vampire and the
Sardine in Outer Space series, but he's got much more!
Hope this helps!
(back to top)
