Tag Archives: graphic novel

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Fifth grade Olivia has many friends and can float easily between groups. One day, Mr. Florez (her teacher) announces the date for the annual fifth grade Variety Show. The students excitedly discuss ideas for their acts and form pairs and groups. That is where the problems begin for Olivia – none of her friends ask her to join their acts! Olivia realizes at that moment that while she has lots of different friends and friend groups, she does not have a best friend. It just hasn’t ‘clicked’ for her.

This dilemma throws her into a panic and she begins to feel isolated and alone. She turns to her family. Her mom wants to fix things for her, which is never a good idea (in a kid’s mind). Help really comes in the form of her rather hip aunt, who has Olivia over for an aunt/niece sleepover and shows Olivia videos of old television variety shows. Aunt Molly also shares her school talent show experience, when she did a solo act and felt great about it. Olivia studies the old shows, thinks about her aunt’s youthful experience and determines the best route for herself.

She returns to school and, as Mr. Florez notes student acts, announces to the class and her teacher that she wants to host the fifth grade Variety Show. Her classmates embrace this idea and her family supports her as she takes on this challenge. When asked how she even thought of the idea of hosting, Olivia replied that it jut “clicked”. In the following days, she and her friends reconnect and she happily moves between friend groups, sometimes introducing them to each other with fun results. The story ends on the night of the Variety Show as Olivia takes the stage and the curtain opens.

This is a wonderful book with a story that many kids of this age can relate to on many levels. Friendships are difficult to navigate and understand and the feeling of isolation can happen on any given moment for the tween crowd. Olivia’s emotions are clearly visible as she grapples with this problem – dreaming about it, thinking about it and talking about it with her family. The beauty of the solution is that is comes from herself. Her aunt gives her some information and Olivia works through it all and is confident in her plan and place.

Illustrations are pen and ink with muted colors and the characters are diverse. Fans of Smile and Best Friends will love this first book in the series.

Carmen Sandiego. The Fishy Treasure Caper: a graphic novel

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Wow! This book takes me back in time, from a 90’s PBS cartoon to now, a Netflix series and graphic novel! In The Fishy Treasure Caper, Ecuador is the country in the spotlight. Carmen and her crew (Ivy, Zack and Player) are attempting to locate a possible treasure trove of gold coins from a sunken ship before the evil folks at VILE locate them and use the proceeds for their dastardly deeds. Carmen finds the sunken ship and is holding a gold doubloon when VILE’s El Topo arrives and an underwater battle for the gold ensues. Unfortunately, the coin is swallowed by a tuna during the melee and caught by a fishing boat.

This leads Carmen, her crew as well as VILE’s El Topo and Le Chevre to the fish market to retrieve the doubloon. Along the way, the team meets Dr. Pilar Marquez, an archaeologist, who gives them some background on the doubloon and reveals that it is not worth much monetarily. But, it’s cultural value is immense. Carmen dons her signature red coat and hat and she, along with her crew, battle the bad guys for the doubloon. She then does the right thing and gives it to Dr. Marquez and heads off to her next adventure…in Amersterdam!

Information about Ecuador is sprinkled throughout the story and a final two-page spread gives a great deal of relevant facts. Readers learn some background details about Carmen and VILE and her cool James Bond-style spy tools interspersed with the story line.

The illustrations are crisp and the story flows well through the panels. Dialogue is easy to follow an parts of the story are detailed in boxes attached to various panels.

A new generation of kids can enjoy the (educational) adventures of Carmen in this format and its associated Netflix series. I, for one, can’t wait to see where Carmen goes next! Highly recommended.

Mystery Club

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This graphic novel has two stories set in London. Four kids (Tyler, Zoey, Kyle and Ashley) are part of the Mystery Club and are dedicated to solving mysteries involving monsters. In Wild Werewolves, the group solves the sudden appearance of numerous werewolves that roam the city. Mummy Mischief involves a lovelorn mummy roaming the subways. Both stories have an enemy named Harnak that is thwarted by the kids each time.

The stories are light and flow smoothly. The colors are bright and and the illustrations are not overdone. This is a fun, “safe” graphic novel for younger readers and won’t shock anyone. The reading level is set at a 2.8 and interest level at 3-6. But, younger students will certainly understand and enjoy it and your hi-lo readers will appreciate it.

Edison Beaker, Creature Seeker: the lost city

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Edison Beaker believes that he will never be a Creature Seeker (after book #1). But, Gigi (his great grandma) has other ideas. She tells Edison that he is ready to be a Creature Seeker and must find the Spark to light the city of Pharos. Otherwise, it will be forever sunk into gloom and the evil Baron Umbra and the Underlings will rule. Edison and his sister, Tesla, go to Gigi’s house to locate her book, which will explain everything. Thankfully, Gigi gave Tesla a monster detecting bracelet before they left, because Underlings come after them as they are looking for Gigi’s book. Their friend, Knox, from the Underwhere helps them escape the Underlings and they go through the Night Door to save Pharos.

Baron Umbra won’t let that happen easily and it takes the three intrepid heroes and a new friend, an Underling named Smudge, to return the light to Pharos and save the city. Along the way, they discover that true friendship, family and loyalty can go far in making the world better.

Colorful illustrations and a little bit of scariness make this a nice elementary level graphic novel. The classic good versus evil is woven nicely into the story. The main characters are loyal, brave and accepting of others (although Tesla was much quicker than Edison in that respect). In case you might want more – the last page has a huge hint that the story will continue…

My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic.Vol. 11

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Shining Armor and Cadance share the story of their meeting and romance in school (and eventual marriage) with his little sister and her friends. Shining Star was a ‘nerd’ and Cadance was a popular pony, who appeared to be headed to the dance with the awful polo team captain. Shining Star’s friends are there to help him achieve his dream of taking Cadance to the dance and they devise elaborate plans…all of which fail miserably. The book ends on a cliffhanger and we don’t know how they end up at the dance together. We have to read the next book in the series to finish the story.

This graphic novel is colorful and is varied in number of panels per page, which moves the story along nicely. Colors are vibrant and the ponies are as over-the-top sparkly and glamorous as they are in their television shows. It should appeal to young readers. But, beware – you won’t be able to get away with buying just one volume. Be prepared to purchase the series, because your students will demand to know how the story ends!

The Whiskers Sisters. #1,May’s wild walk

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Three sisters, antlered Maya, feline Mia and pink-eyed May are awaiting the return of their grandfather, the the Guardian of the Forest. One morning, Mrs. Owl brings them a letter and after reading it, Maya and Mia plan a celebration. They don’t include May (who is younger and speaks in baby talk “ga ga ga”), so she wanders off and ends up in Mrs. Owl’s letter bag. She is carried off and falls into the forest when the strap on the bag breaks, dumping her and the rest of the mail. Interestingly, the animals in the forest understand May perfectly and she has a great time locating the missing letters with them. Maya and Mia spend their day preparing for the celebration and realize May is missing just as the party is to start. They have just a short time to be sad before May, the forest animals and, surprise(!), grandpa show up. Let the celebration begin!

This is a light little story with manga-like characters set in a cute cottage in a lovely forest. There isn’t a lot of depth to the story in this graphic novel. But, that’s ok, given it appears to be directed at the younger crowd. It’s a sweet introduction to graphic novels and is sure to please the target audience.

Super Potato. #2.Super Potato’s galactic breakout

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Super Potato is captured by the evil Zort, a slug king that collects creatures from different planets for his personal zoo. Fortunately, the slug’s robot servant is easily manipulated by the brilliant Super Potato and opens all the cages to release the creatures. Minus the Magnificent, king of the Planet Micron, and his armada (who came to rescue him) return the creatures to their home planets and take Super Potato back to Earth. Is this the end? Nope…I know this, because it says it on the last page! There will be more adventures to come.

This innocent little graphic novel will appeal to those readers who might be beginning their exploration of the genre. It is not too difficult to follow and the humor is at the perfect level for the 2nd-5th grade reader. Pages range from single panel to three panel comic spreads that move the story along. The colors are bright and the writing is simple. Pick up this book (and the first one) for your young readers.

Nick the Sidekick

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Nick has some very special powers – he has super hearing and he is super smart. Unfortunately, his super hearing comes at a price…super big ears. And, those ears make him the brunt of schoolyard jokes and mean kids. His best friend, Tess, is always there to encourage and help Nick in any way she can, though.

Nick’s talents do not go unnoticed and he is recruited to be a sidekick…er, assistant…to Super Fantastic Guy, a brawny and not-so-bright superhero. Nick trains for his job and doesn’t quite get the flying part down. But, he uses his super intellect and hearing to fight crime alongside…er, behind….Super Fantastic Guy, who loves to take credit for their fabulous crime fighting.

Fortunately, Nick’s contribution is not totally unnoticed. A reporter spots the truth and gets a few digs in to Super Fantastic Guy, who doesn’t really get it until Tess changes part of his acceptance speech at a city ceremony and he reads the truth out loud. He also reads that he has poopy pants. Geez, can’t this superhero read ahead a bit? He acknowledges at the end that he might have deserved it, though. So, we have hope that Nick will get the accolades he deserves in the future.

The bright colors and quick pace of the story through the panels makes this a quick read and it should appeal to the Captain Underpants crowd in a big way. And, that’s no cliche! Highly recommended.

Graveyard Shakes

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There are two stories that come together in a single tale in Graveyard Shakes. The first story is about two sisters. Victoria and her younger sister, Katia, are sent from the farm to a boarding school on scholarship. Victoria wants to fit in and Katia loves to stand out, which doesn’t help Victoria. The second story is about a mad scientist (Nikoa), his nearly dead son (Modie) and ghosts, including Little Ghost. Every thirteen years, Nikola must take the spirit of a living child and give it to his son so that his son might “live”. Most of the ghosts in the graveyard (and secret laboratory) help with the process, except Little Ghost who is really rather scared of this ghostly stuff.

The two stories converge during a snowstorm, when Nikola sends his ghostly helpers to find a child and Katia runs away from Victoria, who must find her before she is used a life giving essence for Modie. With some help from Little Ghost and Modie, who both sacrifice themselves, the sisters escape from Nikola and end his evil plans. The story wraps up nicely, with the sisters accepting each other as they are, Nikola accepting his son’s death and vowing to be a better person, Little Ghost finally at peace and Modie (now a ghost) enjoying his new ‘family’ – Victoria and Katia.

The artwork is bold and the story is fast-paced. Young readers won’t be as disturbed as their adult counterparts by Nikola’s obsession with his child’s immortality and willingness to sacrifice living children. And, the sisters’ eventual acceptance of their uniqueness and unity after the initial discord is heartwarming. Additional selection.

Super Potato: the Epic Origin of Super Potato

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Super Max is your typical pretty boy superhero – big muscles, blond hair and an inflated sense of importance. Occasionally, he has to go to battle against Dr. Malevolent and always wins.

But, not this time…Dr. Malevolent has the ultimate weapon of destruction to use against humanity, snarky waiters and one vain superhero…a weapon that turns people into potatoes! And, he does just that after luring Super Max to his lair by stealing a priceless statue. Super Max is demoralized. He is now a tiny, hairless, insignificant potato. After crying for quite some time, he begins to walk home and is nearly hit by a truck but flies into the air in the nick of time. Flies? yes! He is a Super Potato!

So, Super Potato outfits himself in a doll size Super Max costume and wig, he heads back to Dr. Malevolent’s lair. He finally finds him wreaking havoc around town and turning everyone into potatoes, captures him, and breaks his evil potato weapon. He then forces Dr. Malevolent to create a de-potato-izing beam, which Dr. Malevolent actually makes into a super potato peeler (gasp). They battle fiercely until Super Potato causes an explosion and then saves Dr. Malevolent and sends him to jail.

This graphic novel is reminiscent of some of older cartoon of old with slapstick humor and over the top (funny) action. Readers will enjoy the fast pace and silly potato references. This is not the end of Super Potato. It is just the beginning…