When I get the chance to pick a picture book for YA's I immediately think of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. It is a huge book, but the illustrations are beautiful and move the plot along seamlessly.
For kicks, I also checked out City of Light, City of Dark by Avi. This is a graphic novel. My first one unless Diary of a Wimpy Kid counts as one and I was incredibly disappointed. The story line was horrible and completely unrealistic. One of the characteristics of good young adult novels was not too many coincidences and this book was chock full of them. I also now know why my students write in fragments. This book was full of them and I didn't see the point of them. I know authors use them purposely but this was every other page and just made me think a lot less of Avi. I will never pick up another so-called graphic novel. talk about dumbing down our kids. If anyone has a suggestion for a good graphic novel (which I think Hugo qualifies as one, but there is no comparison) I would love to hear of it. Why did Avi waste his time?
I also have Good Master! Sweet Ladies! checked out but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It is a straight-forward picture book with more prose than word bubbles.
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Please do not give up on graphic novels for YA readers. I have to agree with your point, there are very few that set a good literary example. I was against buying them for my middle school library, but they are getting better, and I now feel some are worth the few dollars we can spare. There are recommendations on ALA.org and in School Library Journal. Read Maus: A Survivor's Tale. "Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel."
ReplyDeleteMy mom was sick this last weekend and I gave her my copy of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret". I found out that it appealed to the older group as well as the younger group when she finished reading it in one sitting. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat choice.
Oh no! Don't throw out graphic novels because of one rotten egg! I firmly believe that there is a book for everyone and a graphic novel for everyone too (as long as we're willing to try). Like Orchid said, Maus is really fantastic. It's well done and has a real story. Definitely worth the time to find it!
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