This summer I’ve been on a graphic novel kick. It started because I needed to fulfill a requirement for my summer reading bingo cards, but then I started looking at other teen graphic novels I hadn’t read but had heard about.
So here’s my run-down of my recent graphic novel reading:
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Best thing: Shows that “good” and “evil” are really just labels put on people, but what you should really look at are their actions.
Nimona shows up on Lord Ballister Blackheart’s doorstep hoping to be his next evil genius side kick. She has the amazing skill to shift into any living form, but Blackheart’s a little wary about her hazy past. While trying to prove the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics is up to no good, Blackheart must confront his once friend, now enemy Sir Abrosius Goldenloin and finds there’s more to Nimona than meets the eye.
Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen & Fain Erin Hicks
Best thing: Common ground can be found by anyone.
Charlie and Nate are neighbors and have grown apart. Charlie is now the star player on the basketball team while Nate is the head of the robotics club. When the school decides to let the student council decide how to use some discretionary funds—to buy new cheerleading uniforms or fund the robotics team at nationals—Nate decides to run for student body president. Unfortunately for him, the cheerleaders—who would scare the mafia—signed Charlie up to run as well, knowing he would cave to their demands. This basically leads to a war that no one can possibly win unscathed.
All Summer Long by Hope Larson
Best thing: Friendships change, but they don’t always have to end because of change.
Bina is lonely because her best friend Austin has left for soccer camp, and she has nothing to do. With no one else to hang out with, Austin’s older sister Charlie starts to share music with Bina and vice versa. As Bina’s friendship with Charlie continues, her friendship with Austin starts to waver. He’s not texting her, and when he comes back, he’s weirdly quiet about camp. Bina’s worried about their friendship and turns to playing music to help her cope.
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang
Best thing: It shows how any person can make a difference, no matter how small.
Anda is new to Flagstaff, Arizona, and is into online gaming. But her gaming experience changes when she meets Liza and starts going on missions that pay actual money. On one of these missions she meets Raymond, a gamer in China who works for a company who tries to by-pass the rules of the game and help people cheat. As Anda learns more about Raymond and his horrible working conditions, she is moved to try and help him, even though he’s a world away.
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
Best thing: Do what you know is right, even if it seems impossible.
The Mouse Guard was formed as a protection against outside attackers to their mouse kingdom. However, an uprising is happening with a group of mice who are disgruntled at the guard’s inaction against their animal foes. Three of the Mouse Guards find themselves in the middle of uprising and may be the only ones who can keep the kingdom together.
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Best thing: Don’t cave to peer pressure just because it makes you look “cool,” instead just be yourself.
Anya’s family is Russian, so she sticks out like a sore thumb at her New England prep school, no matter how hard she tries to fit in. Then one day a freak accident leads her to the ghost of Emily, a girl who was tragically murdered but her body never found. With Emily’s ghostly help, Anya starts to feel like she belongs at school and may even have a chance with her crush, until the benevolent ghost starts to turn malevolent.
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Best thing: Our differences are our best superpowers, so don’t judge someone by their looks.
This is a semi-autobiographical tale of Cece, born hearing but after contracting meningitis when she was four, she is now severely deaf. It’s fine at first because her class is all deaf kids, but after moving to a new school and getting a new bulky hearing aid, Cece isn’t so sure of herself. To help cope with her feelings, she creates a superhero in her head, El Deafo, who gets to say what she can’t.
Out of these, my favorite would still have to be Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong, but none of these were bad. They are all different in their own ways, and that’s the best thing about graphic novels…they are for everyone.
There are many great graphic novels out there, but here are some of my all time favorites:
- Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
- Cardboard by Doug TenNapel
- Smile by Raina Telgemeier
- Rollergirl by Victoria Jamieson
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