Graphic Novels and Illustrated Novels
Illustrated Novels:
Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf
Bibliography:
Hale, B. (2011). Middle school is worse than meatloaf. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Ginny is in seventh grade and the year just keeps going down hill. Her She loses out on the leading role in the school play to her ex-best friend. she goes to detention for throwing her frog in science class and she has several lists that she is keeping, including her Big To Do List. It is a fun read and is is totally made up if lists, forms, receipts, newspaper clippings and drawings. It's like reading a novel in a scrapbook format. I would recommend this book because the story is good and realistic, but the format gets the reader more involved than just reading words.
This story follows Franny Chapman in 1962 while she is experiencing a stressful time in her life. She lives with her sister, whom people now think may be a communist, her little brother who is obsessed with being an astronaut, her uncle who's mind is slipping away, her mother who is somewhat overwhelmed and her father who is in the military and leaves frequently for missions. On top of all of this there is a new boy across the street and her best friend is distancing herself and at school they are practicing for the bomb that will be dropped at any time due to the missile crisis in Cuba. This story is very interesting because it follows Franny around and demonstrated the life of an eleven year old through this time of national crisis. The book has real pictures from that time period in between chapters and aids the reader in the fear and emotion through this crisis. I would recommend this book because it is a great story filled with lots of real images that provide for a very real depiction of the time.
Graphic Novels:
Rapunzel's Revenge
Bibliography:
Hale, S. (2008). Rapunzel's Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury.
This is the story of Rapunzel - well a version of the fairy tale that we all know and love. Rapunzel lives with her mother who is evil and when Rapunzel climbs the wall around her castle and sees what is out there, she is punished. She is taken to a tower where a spell is placed on her and her hair begins to grow extremely quick. As time goes on, Rapunzel starts to braid her hair and and begins to use her braids as whips. Rapunzel eventually frees herself and meets up with Jack who is in despair because his goose won't lay golden eggs. They pair up together and and return to Rapunzel's castle to find her true mother. This story has a western flavor to it. After Rapunzel leaves her tower she is dressed in jeans and boots and rides a horse with Jack. This gives the story a little difference from the one we've allknown growing up but it provides a little twist and makes the reading fun.
Zita the Spacegirl
Bibliography:
Hatke, B. (2011). Zita the spacegirl. New York: First Second.
Zita and Joseph are walking through a field when they come upon a crates that wasn't there yesterday. In observing the crater, they find a device and push a button to find that a portal has been created. Joseph gets sucked into the portal and Zita must go after him. They are transported to a different world with monsters and magicians. Zita begins her quest to find Joseph and meets some helpful creatures and some not so helpful ones along the way. She finally finds Joseph who the local believe has the power to stop the planet from being destroyed by an asteroid. Zita is able to destroy the asteroid with the device that she found and save Joseph but when they are trying to return home, the device malfunctions and only Joseph is sent back. Zita will have to find another way home.
Graphic Novels have not been on my list of favorite genres, but I would have to say that after the books I read for this weeks Module that I have a slight change of heart. Not only were the stories good, but the manner in which the story was presented was fun and kept me engaged. The first two books listed this week are illustrated novels, which is just a different presentation style than the typical boxed version of the graphic novel style. Instead of having drawn pictures, usually framed and several to a page to depict the story, these novels used actual photos of objects that aided in the storytelling.
In Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf there were actual photos of notes to and fro parents, ticket stubs, bank statements, and so forth that the reader had to read over as part of the story. This was set up similar to a scrapbook and the reader was required to look through all the pieces on each page to get a thorough understanding of what was happening in the story.
In Countdown, there were photographs of actual events and advertisements of that period in time. These items were placed in between the chapters and provided the reader with emotional reminders of the heightened events during the Cuban missile crisis.
The last two books, Rapunzel's Revenge and Zita the Spacegirl, were what most people consider true graphic novels. Both were in the framed drawing format while depicting their story. Each of these books was good in their own way and the stories were enjoyable while representing the true graphic novel format.
Illustrated Novels:
Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf
Bibliography:
Hale, B. (2011). Middle school is worse than meatloaf. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Ginny is in seventh grade and the year just keeps going down hill. Her She loses out on the leading role in the school play to her ex-best friend. she goes to detention for throwing her frog in science class and she has several lists that she is keeping, including her Big To Do List. It is a fun read and is is totally made up if lists, forms, receipts, newspaper clippings and drawings. It's like reading a novel in a scrapbook format. I would recommend this book because the story is good and realistic, but the format gets the reader more involved than just reading words.
Countdown
Bibliography:
Wiles,
D. (2010). Countdown. New York: Scholastic.This story follows Franny Chapman in 1962 while she is experiencing a stressful time in her life. She lives with her sister, whom people now think may be a communist, her little brother who is obsessed with being an astronaut, her uncle who's mind is slipping away, her mother who is somewhat overwhelmed and her father who is in the military and leaves frequently for missions. On top of all of this there is a new boy across the street and her best friend is distancing herself and at school they are practicing for the bomb that will be dropped at any time due to the missile crisis in Cuba. This story is very interesting because it follows Franny around and demonstrated the life of an eleven year old through this time of national crisis. The book has real pictures from that time period in between chapters and aids the reader in the fear and emotion through this crisis. I would recommend this book because it is a great story filled with lots of real images that provide for a very real depiction of the time.
Graphic Novels:
Rapunzel's Revenge
Bibliography:
Hale, S. (2008). Rapunzel's Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury.
This is the story of Rapunzel - well a version of the fairy tale that we all know and love. Rapunzel lives with her mother who is evil and when Rapunzel climbs the wall around her castle and sees what is out there, she is punished. She is taken to a tower where a spell is placed on her and her hair begins to grow extremely quick. As time goes on, Rapunzel starts to braid her hair and and begins to use her braids as whips. Rapunzel eventually frees herself and meets up with Jack who is in despair because his goose won't lay golden eggs. They pair up together and and return to Rapunzel's castle to find her true mother. This story has a western flavor to it. After Rapunzel leaves her tower she is dressed in jeans and boots and rides a horse with Jack. This gives the story a little difference from the one we've allknown growing up but it provides a little twist and makes the reading fun.
Zita the Spacegirl
Bibliography:
Hatke, B. (2011). Zita the spacegirl. New York: First Second.
Zita and Joseph are walking through a field when they come upon a crates that wasn't there yesterday. In observing the crater, they find a device and push a button to find that a portal has been created. Joseph gets sucked into the portal and Zita must go after him. They are transported to a different world with monsters and magicians. Zita begins her quest to find Joseph and meets some helpful creatures and some not so helpful ones along the way. She finally finds Joseph who the local believe has the power to stop the planet from being destroyed by an asteroid. Zita is able to destroy the asteroid with the device that she found and save Joseph but when they are trying to return home, the device malfunctions and only Joseph is sent back. Zita will have to find another way home.
