End of the Year: Favorite Graphic Novels from 2011





It is that time of the year.  Time to look back on all of the wonderful books that I read and an attempt to select my favorites.  I have decided to kick-off the End of the Year posts with Graphic Novels.  In looking at my GoodReads' shelf for Graphic Novels, I realized that I read a lot of graphic novels in 2011.  In coming up with this list though, I limited it to ones that were released in 2011. 


Here are some of my personal favorites (in no particular order):

Babymouse #14: Mad Scientist by Matt Holm and Jenni Holm - No list would be complete without a Babymouse GN making an appearance and not only is this one a favorite of 2011 but maybe one of my favorite Babymouse books to date.


Squish by Matt Holm and Jenni Holm - Fans of Babymouse were introduced to Squish this year and got a chance to read not just one but two Squish stories.  Yay for Super Amoebas! 


Lunch Lady #6 Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett J. Krosoczka - Any teacher who has taken a class on a field trip to any place will get a chuckle out of the latest Lunch Lady book. 


Sidekicks by Dan Santat - I am a huge fan of Santat's picture books and was excited to hear that he was doing a graphic novel.  And even more excited when I finally had a chance to read it.  My list would not be complete without adding it here.  This one has become quite popular among my students as well.


Amulet #4: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi - This is one book series that I have to wrestle away from students in order to read the latest book.  And book 4 truly delivers.  Boys and girls love this series and I have students in grades 1 to 5 reading it.


Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists by Various - Nursery Rhymes get a fancy twist as illustrated by some of the most popular cartoonists out there.  First Second puts out some great books and this is one of them.  A fun way to expose older children to common nursery rhymes.


Around the World by Matt Phelan - Phelan writes about the individual accounts of 3 people who ventured out on "around the world" tours in the late 19th century. Full of the personality quirks of each of these adventurers and interesting facts. 


Hera by George O'Connor - The Olympian series by O'Connor is a favorite of mine.  And though I might favor Athena more than Hera, I certainly grew in appreciation for who Hera is/was from this book. The "Geek Notes" at the end of the book help readers connect back to the other books - or provide glimpses of what will come. Great companion to the Percy Jackson Series.


Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge - Newcomer Gulledge snagged me with her amazing artwork and I was particularly taken with how the illustrations perfectly match the emotions of the text. Some of the images were just so expressive on such a visceral level.


Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol - Anya's Ghost manages to be a ghost story with just the right level of creepy with true teen angst about fitting in at high school.  In addition to a great story, I really loved the illustrations in this one.




For our youngest comic book/graphic novel fans, I need to make a special mention of Candlewick's ToonBooks which are a wonderful easy reader series of comic books.  They aren't all published in 2011 but I discovered them in 2011.  The series is perfect for Kinder to 3rd grade and the book apps are also available in multiple language. 

If you are looking to increase your graphic novel collection, and these aren't on the shelves in your library, I would encourage you to add them to your personal or school libraries (*please note - Page by Paige & Anya's Ghosts are both for Middle School and older). 

** Thanks to Alethea (@frootjoos) for the image at the top. 


It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA (5)

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Jen & Kellee from 
Teach Mentor Texts have adapted this to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books.
 
Each week I'll recap what I've read/reviewed the week before 
and then look ahead to what I am planning on reading/reviewing in the upcoming week. 
 
Last week's book adventures:
Though this was a very slow reading week, there were a few books that made it into my reading pile.  
 
First,  I caught up with two picture books from teacher/librarians', Travis Jonkers (100 Scope Notes) & John Schumacher (Watch.Connect.Read), top twenty list.
 
 
Ice by Arther Geisert is a wordless picture book that was brought to my attention from reading Travis Jonker's blog 100 Scope Notes.  This one needs to be looked at carefully in order to catch all of the subtleties of the story about a community of pigs that are suffering from the heat.  A decision is made to search for ice and off they go.  The story is told effectively through images and the creativity and ingenuity of these pigs are impressive.

 
Melvin and the Boy by Lauren Castillo is a beautifully illustrated gentle story about a young boy who discovers what he thinks is his perfect pet, only to learn that maybe the turtle would be happier where he came from.  I especially enjoyed the endnotes with facts about real turtles. 
 
 
Next, I squeezed in the most recent Ivy & Bean early chapter book No News is Good News by Annie Barrows.  Ivy & Bean is a favorite among some of my 2nd and 3rd grade girls.  And the 8th book in the series has these two friends figuring out a way to earn money in order to buy cheese, not just any cheese but low-fat Belldeloon cheese with the red wax.  Probably one of my favorite Ivy & Bean books and sure to make you laugh.


And while on the plane to visit my parents for the holidays, I listened to The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman.  If you are looking for a quick audiobook read, you might want to give this one a go.  Narrated by Kerry Shale, this Newbery Medal Winner written by Sid Fleischman has a touch of humor along with a story of self-awakening and friendship.
 
 
I also read The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz.  This has been on my list of books to read for a very long time.  I have to confess that I am not much of a fairy fan which is likely why it has taken me so long to pull this out of the pile. However, I can certainly see how all of the little girls at my school who do love fairy stories will love this book.  I will certainly be sharing this with students when I return after winter break.
 
 
And Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer. This small volume was probably my favorite read this past week.  I haven't read much in recent years about the Salem Witch Trials so it was exciting to find something that was informative and completely engrossing.  The black-white and red scratchboard illustrations add to the text.  
 
Upcoming Book Adventures...
 
My goal for this week is to go to our local library every day until I have read 150 picture books.  Yep, 150 picture books.  I am determined to reach my GoodReads Challenge Goal by December 31st.  
 

So, what are you reading this week?
Please share! And remember to check in at Sheila's or Jen & Kellee's blog to see what they and others are reading!

Winter Wishlist Week 3

My wonderful buddies - Alethea, Kimberly, & Thuy - over at Read Now, Sleep Later  are hosting a seasonal meme that is perfect for this time a year and for all you book lovers out there.  This is the final post in the series.  Week 3 is to write about a charity or nonprofit that works with books and/or literacy.  I thought it would be a great post on Christmas Day to write about one of my favorite groups.  


Reading is Fundamental (RIF) is the largest children's literacy non-profit program in the United States and now serves over 4 million children across the United States.  It began in 1966 in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Margaret McNamara and a group of teachers and school volunteers.  Starting first with 3 schools, RIF is has expanded to 100's of schools throughout the U.S.  Dedicated volunteers come into schools to read with children and provide free, new books to children who may otherwise have never received one.

My school and the students have personally benefited from the work of RIF volunteers and the donation of books.

If you are interested in supporting a great organization, you can click here to learn how to make a donation.

Celebrate the season and share your love of literacy with children through the work of RIF. 

Book Review: Shatter Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: Harper Collins (November 15, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: Purchased in store
Young Adult  * Dystopian * Apocalyptic


Description from Goodreads:
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
 
Shatter Me was one of the most hyped YA debuts of 2011. It was drawing comparisons to The Hunger Games and X-Men, and it was the latest in a lost of young adult novels being optioned for a film adaptation, so I was very excited to see if it lived up to the hype. Thankfully, for me, it did. The story is very original -- a girl who has a lethal touch who is forced to be a tool of war or part of a revolution -- and the world is very inventive. This is set in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian America. This seems to be a popular genre in recent years, but somehow Shatter Me manages to create some interesting things about the world that makes it stand out. This book gives us tastes of some of the aspects of this new America ruled by The Reestablishment, but there is so much to be answered in future books. Who are the other people trapped in the prison with Juliette in the beginning? How did she develop her abilities? And so many other questions that I can't ask without spoiling the book for you...

One of the most interesting things about this novel is the writing style. The prose is written in a kind of stream of consciousness from Juliette's point of view. Every thought that crosses her mind and every poetic comparison she makes are documented, so that reading the novel almost feels like sifting through her mind as things are happening. Also, many of her thoughts are striked out, which is an interesting technique I've hardly (if ever) seen in prose. In the world of the novel, Juliette is characterized as a monster for her deadly touch, so when her thoughts become morbid or self-deprecating, and she thinks I am a monster or I want to touch you but I can't, I like that the strikeouts provide a visual for her inner struggle with who she is. Personally, I really enjoyed how original and different this prose is, especially in a YA context. It might be disconcerting for some readers, but for me it was very refreshing and unique.

The characters in the novel are really what hooked me. Even though the end of the novel took the plot in a direction I wasn't expecting, I still loved the book because the characters were so great. As I said before, Juliette was a great protagonist because I felt like I had a perfect view into her thought process, which helped me understand why she might shy away from people or behave in strange ways. I love how her character went from timid and reserved at the beginning of the novel to assertive and strong as she became more comfortable with her 'ability'. I also love Adam in the novel. He is the other main character/love interest/person-we-root-for in the novel. He is supportive, strong, quite sexy, and an honorable guy. Very crush-worthy, so you can add him to your list of book boyfriends. All of the characters are interesting and complex in the novel, and character development is undeniably one of Shatter Me's strengths.

My favorite character, though -- and I know I am probably alone in this -- is Warner. For me, Warner is the most multi-dimensional, complicated, and human of the book's characters; however, I think he is supposed to be the villain/antagonist so I know I'm setting myself up for future heartache in the series. The thing about Warner is that he does horrible things: he is ruthless, aggressive, and even cruel. BUT, he's doing what he has to do in order to survive, so I can't fully hate him for trying not ot be a victim. Also, beneath his hard exterior, I think there's real emotion and sincerity in him. I really hope that future books explore his back story more, particularly his family history, because I have some theories about him and just find him so fascinating.

Honestly, I really loved Shatter Me. The plot began on Page One and the story moved quickly, with exciting twists and a great mix of action, romance, drama, and suspense. As I said before, the ending took the story in an unexpected direction, so I'm eager to see how that affects future books. I highly recommend this, particularly for fans of Wither (Lauren DeStefano), Divergent (Veronica Roth), and Incarceron (Catherine Fisher).


Tahereh Mafi is a girl. She’s 24. She writes books and reads books and drinks way too much coffee. SHATTER ME is her first novel, and the first of a trilogy, coming from Harper/HarperCollins on November 15, 2011. Film rights have been optioned by 20th Century Fox. Her work is represented by Jodi Reamer of Writers House, LLC. You can follow her on her blog: http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter: @TaherehMafi

Her website is:

Mid-Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop 2011




Welcome to the Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop.  Thanks to Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Jessie Harrell from Oasis for YA for co-hosting!  This hop runs from December 21st to December 27th.  You have more than 200 blogs to stop by and enter a different contest.  Don't forget to check out the linky below.

artwork by Tom Angleberger

My Twitter buddies and fellow educators - Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp started a new blog recently called the Nerdy Book Club Blog.  Other educators, librarians, and book people have been contributing guest posts.  They have been a lot of fun to read.  Recently, they even held the Nerdy Book Club Awards.  

But they didn't stop there. They also started a Café Press store.  There is lots of cool stuff in the Nerdy Book Club Store and what is wonderful is that the proceeds from the store go to RIF (Reading Is Fundamental).  For my Mid-Winter's Eve Giveaway, one lucky participant has a chance to win up to $20 in Nerdy Book Club merchandise from the Café Press Store.  Here is a sample of one of the items over at the Nerdy Book Club Store:


Wouldn't this be a great mug to sip your favorite beverage while reading from your TBR pile or checking out the blog posts written by various Nerdy Book Club Members over on the Nerdy Book Club Blog? 

Rules for the Contest:

1. Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (including your email, website, etc.).  If you do enter personal information, you comment will not be posted.  
2.  You must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
3.  The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on December 21, 2011 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on December 27th.
3.  You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4.  If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail.  If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5.  International participants are welcome to enter the contest.