What is a graphic novel? A “graphic novel” is a longer version of a comic book story that offers a more complex storyline, comparable to a novel. According to the ComicBookPedia website, the term “graphic novel” was first coined by Richard Kyle in 1964, mainly as an attempt to distinguish the newly translated works from Europe which were then being published from what Kyle perceived as the more juvenile subject matter that was so common in the United States.
According to the Internet Wikipedia, a “graphic novel” is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using the comics form. The term is employed in a broad manner, encompassing non-fiction works and thematically linked short stories as well as fictional stories across a number of genres. Graphic novels using the same materials and method as print books are typically bound in a longer, more durable format then comic magazines.
Don’t know where to or how to start? Try any of the titles found on the American Library Association’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens.
Here are a few titles to get you started:
Maximum Ride 1 by NaRae Lee TEEN 741.5 LEE v.1
Life Sucks by Jessica Abe TEEN 741.5 ABE
Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventure in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger 741.5 STE
Skim by Mariko Tamaki TEEN 741.5 TAM
Laika by Nick Abadzis 741.5 ABA
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis jB Sis, Peter Sis
Transformers. Revenge of the Fallen by Chris Mowry Teen 741.5 MOW
THE BONE SERIES:
Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith TEEN 741.5 BONE SMI V.3
The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith TEEN 741.5 BONE SMI v. 2
Dragon Ball Vol. 6 by Akira Toriyama TEEN 741.5 TOR v. 6
Dragon Ball Z Vol. 6 by Akira Toriyama TEEN 741.5 TOR v.6
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Pale Reflections by Andi Watson TEEN 741.5 Buffy W3374p
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Crash Test Demons by Andi Watson TEEN 741.5 Buffy W3374c
Ambrose Bierce by Ambrose Bierce TEEN 741.5 BIE
H. P. Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft by H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft TEEN 741.5 L8978h
H. G. Wells by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells TEEN 741.5 W4543h
Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe TEEN 741.5 P743e
Arthur Conan Doyle by Arthur Conan Doyle Sir TEEN 741.5 D7541a