by Jeannine Wiese

Featured Author
I recently had lunch with author Scott Christian Sava. This was our second meeting and I came away even more convinced he’s a graphic novelist to know and watch. He has a growing list of highly entertaining titles for ages 7-10 that you will want to add to your juvenile collection. Several have already received very positive reviews from major review journals. All contain the magical ingredients of imagination, excitement, action, and humor that will pull young readers, especially boys, into the fabulous adventure we call reading. Scott’s twin six-year-old boys provide him with valuable “market research.” If his tales hold their attention, cause them to laugh, and plant the desire in them to read them again and again, he knows he’s on to a good thing. His goal is solely to entertain, not to preach, not to teach, but he admits if some good life-lessons are bi-products there’s no harm done.

Scott was not always a graphic novelist. He started out as a video game animator for Sega. He then moved to movies and television, working on Digimon and Spider-Man. In 2002 his animation skills were transformed into comic books as the illustrator for Spider-Man: Quality of Life, written by Greg Rucka. He also has a highly popular Web-comic that’s come to graphic novel format, Dreamland Chronicles, written with teen girls in mind and available on the Graphic Novel Standing Order Program.

2009 Eisner Awards Announced at San Diego Comic-Con
The following are the awards of most interest to juvenile and YA librarians.

Best Publication for Kids
Tiny Titans Series’ first two titles, Welcome to the Treehouse and Adventures in Awesomeness by Art Baltazar and Franco won against strong nominees like Amulet Book 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kabuishi, Cowa! by Akira Toriyama, Princess at Midnight by Andi Watson, and Stinky by Eleanor Davis. The Tiny Titans series along with Amulet and TOON Books, to which Stinky belongs, are all available on the Graphic Novel Standing Order Program and are highly recommended for elementary grade readers.

Best Publication for Teens/Tweens
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, adapted by P. Craig Russell, beat out Crogan's Vengeance by Chris Schweizer, The Good Neighbor's Book 1 Kin by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh, Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale and Nathan Hale, and lastly, Skim by Mariko Tamaki.

Best New Series
Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca is recommended for grades 6 and up.

Best Continuing Series
All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is ideal for teens and up.

Best Reality-Based Work
What It Is by Lynda Barry is also strongly recommended for teens and up.

Favorite New Releases for Fall
Little Mouse a brand-new TOON Book, by Bone author Jeff Smith, introduces a frisky, little mouse who’s overflowing with enthusiasm for life. It’s perfect for the young, beginning reader ages 5-6 and is highly recommended for all libraries. Be sure to read the full review.

Candlewick’s Templar imprint launches a promising new sci-fi series, Robot City Adventures, in November with the first two titles. In the first, City in Peril, Curtis the Colossal Coast-Guard Robot must save the city from a giant sea monster. In Rust Attack the Robot City Confidential Investigations--the city’s premier private detective agency--is called to track down the rat that’s causing the whole city to rust. The action, adventure, and humor will appeal to ages 9-12.

Philomel continues its hit graphic novel adaptation of the Alex Rider series with the latest, exciting volume Skeleton Key most appropriate for ages 10-13.

Amulet Book 2: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi, my favorite Eisner-nominated author, continues the dramatic, fantasy adventure of Emily, Navin, and their mom as they frantically wander through a mysterious underworld filled not only with kindly robots and talking animals, but also sinister creatures and demons that are determined to prevent their return to the normal world they once knew. Highly recommended for ages 9-12.

Camilla d'Errico's Burn from Simon Pulse is a dark, sci-fi adventure for ages 12 and up. Boys should eat it up. The advanced copy promises a dramatic human-vs.-machine confrontation. The boy named Burn and the destructive robot, Shoftiel, discover that through some freak happening their bodies have become one. Although not identified as the beginning of a series, the ending leaves the door open for future volumes. Camilla d’Errico is also the illustrator and co-creator of Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes.

Katman by Kevin C. Pyle from First Second caught my attention being the cat lover that I am, making it impossible for me to resist reading such a title. At first glance I thought it to be a new super-hero tale, but in reality it proves to be much more. First Second appropriately describes it as “ . . . the story of two people forced to make a choice: Is it cooler to care about something, someone, or nothing at all?” I highly recommend it for ages 12 and up.

Publisher News
Titles for sheer enjoyment

BOOM Studios
BOOM Studios announces its first children’s line--BOOM Kids--is coming soon. This is the first time Disney has allowed their PIXAR brands like Cars, The Incredibles, and Toy Story to be published with original stories, not stories based on the movie. Each graphic novel is a self-contained story, not volumes, like manga. BOOM’s second license is The Muppets, which is seeing resurgence in the marketplace. The Muppet comic books are actually outselling PIXAR comic books by 5 percent. Trade graphic novels will be four-color 6 x 9, trade paper at $9.99. BOOM Kids will also release these titles in hardcover, a month after the trade paperbacks release at $24.99 each. Not counting the hardcovers, BOOM Kids will release 25-30 titles a year. Be sure to check out all the BOOM Kids titles available this fall.

Flux
YA publisher FLUX announces its first-ever graphic novel Black is for Beginnings this month. It’s a continuation of the bestselling series, Blue is for Nightmares, by Laurie Faria Stolarz. Four books make up the original series: Blue is for Nightmares, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance. With over half a million copies in print Blue is for Nightmares has been honored as a 2007 YALSA Popular Paperback, a 2005 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and a 2004 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten nominee.

Curriculum Strand Titles
Crabtree
Social Issues for Intermediate Grades
This November Crabtree Publishing is pleased to introduce an exciting new non-fiction graphic novel series, Crabtree Character Sketches. Each book focuses on one particular character trait, taking the reader through defining moments in the lives of up to six different people throughout history. These inspiring stories will demonstrate how recognizable figures have used great character and strong values through their actions. Just a few of the many things you will learn in the books:

Respect in beliefs when a Jewish National League Pitcher, Sandy Koufax, refused to pitch in the first game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.

Honesty in sports when 1920s pro golfer Bobby Jones called a penalty on himself when he accidentally moved his ball. No one saw it happen and he lost the game by one stroke as a result.

Empathy for the homeless when a school girl named Hannah Turner started Hannah’s Socks. Hannah witnessed a homeless man with broken shoes barely covering his bare feet. The next day Hannah and her mother dropped off new socks at local shelters. Since then, the organization Hannah’s good deed started has gone on to deliver brand new socks and underwear to thousands of needy people throughout the country. 

Integrity at the cost of your career. In the 1950s Lillian Helman refused to “name names” for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This resulted in her being blacklisted by Hollywood studios.

Presented in graphic-novel style, these full-color books make learning interactive and fun. Sidebars throughout the book provide key background information on each person as well as the time period in which they lived. Special feature boxes involve the reader by having them imagine themselves in similar situations. The books will be available in both library binding and trade paper and are recommended for intermediate grades 3-6.

Farrar Straus Giroux
Holocaust Studies for Ages 10 and Up
A Family Secret and The Search published originally by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, release in October by Farrar Straus Giroux. Both have been meticulously researched by the staff of the Anne Frank House, assuring readers that the pictures and text are historically accurate. Simultaneously published in full-color hardcover and paperback, these works convey the details of a horrific moment in world history.

No Starch Press/O'Reilly Media 
Nonfiction Series for High School and Above
The Manga Guide series from No Starch Press/O'Reilly Media combines authentic Japanese comics (manga) with real educational content, covering topics like statistics, physics, electricity, and calculus.  The story-driven instruction in these illustrated guides captures readers' attention and makes learning almost painless. Exercises round out each book and ensure that readers fully grasp the material. The Manga Guides are perfect for adult learners, as supplements to college courses, and as ways to introduce younger readers to scientific and technical topics.