Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks. First Second. 2012.
Maggie has been homeschooled her whole life, until now. She’s starting high school at a public school this year, and she couldn’t be more terrified. Her 3 older brothers go to the school, but they all have lives of their own there. She makes friend with Lucy & Alistair, a brother and sister who also don’t have many friends. Through their adventures together, Maggie learns the importance of family, friends, and everyone’s individuality. Plus, Maggie’s haunted by the ghost of a Captain’s widow.
Descriptive words: black & white, detailed, fluid, cinematic
Appeal factors: plot driven, appeals to teens, holds wide range of interests (ghosts, action, relatable high school characters), rich story, similar to Sailor Twain but for a younger audience
Awards: YALSA's 2013 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten
Misc: fully published on the web to gain interest before the book came out
Descriptive words: black & white, detailed, fluid, cinematic
Appeal factors: plot driven, appeals to teens, holds wide range of interests (ghosts, action, relatable high school characters), rich story, similar to Sailor Twain but for a younger audience
Awards: YALSA's 2013 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten
Misc: fully published on the web to gain interest before the book came out
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life Vol.1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Oni Press. 2004.
Scott Pilgrim is 23, in a band, and has a high school girlfriend named Knives. However, soon he starts to see another girl in his dreams, and then he sees her at a party. Ramona Flowers is the girl of his dreams, and if he wants to date her, he has to fight all her evil ex-boyfriends. Good thing Scott has crazy good fighting powers.
Descriptive words: stylized, bizarre, random, dense
Appeal factors: appeals to teens - both girls and boys, character driven, simple, fast and flighty read, has a similar drawing style to manga
Misc: six Scott Pilgrim books in the series as well as a short publication entitled Free Scott Pilgrim that can be found on Comixology, 2010 film adaptation starring Michael Cera
Descriptive words: stylized, bizarre, random, dense
Appeal factors: appeals to teens - both girls and boys, character driven, simple, fast and flighty read, has a similar drawing style to manga
Misc: six Scott Pilgrim books in the series as well as a short publication entitled Free Scott Pilgrim that can be found on Comixology, 2010 film adaptation starring Michael Cera
The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks. Dark Horse Books. 2013.
Superhero Girl isn’t your average superhero. She has the powers, but not the look. She fights crime, defeats monsters, struggles to pay rent, loves her cat, and has a much more successful older brother.
Descriptive words: cute, funny, light-hearted, sketchy, cartoony
Appeal factors: appeals to middle grade tweens and highschoolers, humorous, quick read, fluffy
Misc: originated as a webcomic
Descriptive words: cute, funny, light-hearted, sketchy, cartoony
Appeal factors: appeals to middle grade tweens and highschoolers, humorous, quick read, fluffy
Misc: originated as a webcomic
Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel by Mary Shelley. Classical Comics. 2008.
This classic piece of literature is adapted into a graphic novel. Victor Frankenstein has devoted his life to the sciences, and begins to experiment with reanimating a dead human. What he creates is a monster, and he immediately regrets it. When Frankenstein will not make a companion for the monster, the monster promises to take all that is dear from him, family, friends, and his new wife. This misery eventually causes the death of Victor himself.
Descriptive words: dark, forlorn, detailed, static
Appeal factors: plot driven, text heavy, uses text from original novel, appeals to high school students up to adults, could be used as a cliffs notes, dark story line, for fans of zombie materials AND classic literature
Misc: originally a novel written by Mary Shelley in 1816, part of the Classical Comics series, which creates graphic novel adaptations of classical literature
Descriptive words: dark, forlorn, detailed, static
Appeal factors: plot driven, text heavy, uses text from original novel, appeals to high school students up to adults, could be used as a cliffs notes, dark story line, for fans of zombie materials AND classic literature
Misc: originally a novel written by Mary Shelley in 1816, part of the Classical Comics series, which creates graphic novel adaptations of classical literature
Ranma 1/2 Vol. 1 by Rumiko Takahashi. VIZ Media LLC. 2003.
Three girls in Tokyo are awaiting the arrival of Ranma, a son of their father’s friend who is supposed to wed one of them. They were not expecting a girl. Ranma and his father had been training martial arts in China, when they fell into a cursed lake. Now, cold water turns Ranma into a girl, and his father into a Panda. With hot water they are able to transform back. They live a normal high school life, except with lots of crazy fighting, with a promise of a continuing story line at the end.
Descriptive words: exaggerated, stylized, weird, silly, comedic
Appeal factors: appeals to high school age students, while this isn't about a transgender - the dual sexuality of Ranma might appeal to transgenders - can identify with character, action packed, character driven, similar to Scott Pilgrim
Descriptive words: exaggerated, stylized, weird, silly, comedic
Appeal factors: appeals to high school age students, while this isn't about a transgender - the dual sexuality of Ranma might appeal to transgenders - can identify with character, action packed, character driven, similar to Scott Pilgrim