Graphics novels are great if you are behind on a reading goal and need to catch up. That is sort of how I started reading them. BUT they also can tell wonderful stories, often personal stories, in words AND pictures. I am always blown away with how the author/artist can tell a story and be good at both words AND art. These always seem like they would take FOREVER to make. I'm not sure how true that is, but it feels true. Just drawing pages and pages of pictures but also being able to do it in a way that enhances a story! I am always amazed at the talent that is displayed.
I haven't read a lot of graphic novels, although Luke is a big fan!, but I have enjoyed almost all the ones I have read. Here a few that might be worth your time!
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1) Displacement: a Travelogue by Lucy Knisley
When I was thinking about this list, Lucy Knisley is the first author that came to mind (and maybe the only graphic novelist I could name). I've read nearly all of her books. This is a travel journal of a cruise she took with her Grandparents. It made me really miss my Grandparents AND cruising, and also a bit glad I never mixed the two. She shows her love for her Grandparents but also the struggle of caring for elderly adults with health problems on vacation. She's also coming to terms with mortality and parts of her Grandfather's WWII memoir are excerpted too. It was a bittersweet story but beautifully told.
2) Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
I've read quite a few books by Rainbow Rowell but I am not sure what compelled me to pickup this Halloween themed graphic novel. This is probably YA and up appropriate since it follows two teens in their final year of working at an elaborate pumpkin farm in October. They are both seniors in high school and next year will be off to college so this is it, the last night of the last year. This pumpkin farm is EXTENSIVE and sounds like a lot of fun but maybe also somewhere I would refuse to take my kids because of crowds. I've read it the past 2 Halloweens and it's a fun, short, seasonal read for someone who just barely tolerates the holiday.
3) Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
Tyler had just finished her first year of college when her Mom is diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Her Mom actually does seem like she was pretty wonderful and it's a heartbreaking and love-filled story of her Mom's final months, from her first oncology appointment through the funeral and navigating her Mom-less existence afterwards. The author is telling the story a decade later, when she's had time to process and live with her grief for awhile. It made me want to call and hug my own Mom and hope I can be a great Mom to my own kids.
4) Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
Did I know I was interested in a story of a high school basketball team? No, I did not. The author is (or was?) a high school teacher when his school's team starts having a phenomenal season, a record breaking kind that is getting them closer and closer to the California State Championships. I haven't paid much attention to high school basketball since I was in high school and went to all the home games as part of the pep band. BUT, I got sucked into this story pretty quickly.
5) The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui
This is the real story of the author's and her family's escape from South Vietnam in the 1970s after the country fell. It's incredibly emotional as they go through the anguish of immigration after barely escaping their home country. She explores her own family's journal through her new lens as a first time parent and how parental love can transcend so many things. I think this is the graphic novel I read that had the author's note that she learned to draw in order to tell this story in this format and that just blows my mind. What an incredible determination and feat!
Have you read any graphic novels? I'd always love some new recommendations!
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