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Jules Bakes and Niki Smith collaborate on a graphic novel for middle grade readers, Sea Legs. Set in Florida and in various other water accessible communities, it tells the story of two twelve-year-old girls with different family dynamics who both live on boats. As readers follow the events in the lives of the pair, we discover not only the perils and the benefits of breaking out of one’s comfort zones but also that there are different ways to be friends. Our friends can make us feel better about ourselves as well as stretch us to be braver and smarter, inspiring us to try harder. PerhapsRead More →

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Gale Galligan’s graphic novel for tween readers, Fresh Start shares the story of siblings Ollie and Cat Herrison. Because the sisters are the mixed race children of a father who works internationally, they move frequently. Ollie has always seen this move in a positive light since she can start over in a new place without carrying the baggage of embarrassing moments. However, once she enrolls at Chestnut Falls Middle School in Virginia and begins to make new friends, she isn’t sure. Besides communicating key themes about social development, friendship, and the tumultuous years of early adolescence, Galligan coveys the importance of cultural connection. Being Thai,Read More →

Cover image for the book Please Be My Star

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Please Be My Star by Victoria Grace Elliot captures the uncertainty of first love and the awkwardness of being a teenager in a beautifully illustrated graphic novel.  Erika’s status as a new student at school is awkward enough without her awareness that she is a ‘creep.’ Erika is aware that her tendency to draw cute boys she doesn’t know and to fantasize about boys that she does makes her more than a little weird. Something that is constantly being told to her by her imaginary inner self who looks like a vampiric alter ego. This alter ego is Erika’s most opinionated critic, verbalizing all ofRead More →

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Written by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley, Duel is a graphic novel about family relationships as much as it is about fencing. With creative word play and pictures, the pair tell the story of Lucy and Georgia (Gigi) Jones whose passion is fencing, a passion developed by their father and passed on to his two daughters. When Dad unexpectedly dies, the girls and their mother forget how to be a family, and soon, they are in turmoil. Feeling inadequate and unsure of themselves, the two tweens take out their frustrations on one another. Pushed to her limits, Lucy challenges her sister to aRead More →

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Award-winning author Minh Lê and illustrator Chan Chau collaborated to produce Enlighten Me, a graphic novel for young readers. After he is threatened with disciplinary action at school following a fight, Bihn and his family travel to Three Jewels Mountain Retreat for meditation exercises. Binh Bui, a Vietnamese boy, is taunted for eating cat and takes on the school bully. Thinking he is a hero, like those he sees in his video games, Binh is confused by the reaction of his parents and his vice principal. While at Three Mountains, Binh learns from the teachings of Sister Peace about the diamond of knowledge that grantsRead More →

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Set in the early eighties, Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang is a graphic novel that shares the challenges faced by Chinese children who were “dropped off” with friends or relatives in foreign countries while their parents stayed behind. Hoping to provide a better life for their children, these parents often missed out on the trials endured by their offspring. Without the supportive nurturing and guidance of their parents, these youth faced the challenges of a new country, culture, and language. Arriving in California from Taiwan, Ke-Gāng, Feng-Li, and Jia-X are soon “abandoned” by their parents, whose Visas require them to return to their homeRead More →