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The 2011 Graphic Novel Nerdies Go to…
Drumroll please……….
The winners of the first, and hopefully annual, Nerdies are:
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Zita the Spacegirl Ben Hatke
Babymouse #14: Mad Scientist Jennifer Holm, Matthew Holm
Whew, I’m exhausted from the excitement of this. Graphic novels are huge in my classroom, huge. I am beyond excited to see some of my favorites on this list. Have you read them? If you haven’t, no worries, here’s a little round-up on each winner:
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
Author’s website: http://www.dantat.com
Follow on twitter: @dsantat
I own two copies of this book. Neither are ever on my graphic novel shelf, they are passed student to student through the fifth grade. Donalyn Miller calls this a classic superhero story. Metro City’s very own superhero, Captain Amazing, has gotten older and needs a sidekick. There is an announcement; people in town vie for the role but no one more than his four pets. Each wants the time to be with their beloved owner. It is a case of sibling rivalry that any child can understand. The story is compelling, the artwork is amazing. You can easily see why this graphic novel took Santat seven years to create. The book might be best summed up by Colby Sharp, “Superhero sidekick pets=Awesome.”
Great interview with Dan Santat can be found here:
http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/content/getting-his-sidekicks-dan-santat-interview
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Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Author’s website: http://verabee.com/
Follow on Twitter: @verabee
I’m sorry to say that when I received this list of winning graphic novels, I had not read this book. An immediate trip to my public library remedied this oversight. How had I missed it? Beyond looking at all of my friends’ reviews on Goodreads, all with high praise, Neil Gaiman has a blurb on the front cover! My #nerdybookclub heart just skipped a beat. (And FYI – his blurb is, “A Masterpiece!” I should just stop there.)
Ok, for any of you who had missed the book as I had, here’s a quick review. Anya struggles to find where she fits in at school. She has one friend, who isn’t even a great one at that. She longs to have Sean notice her, to be more like Elizabeth. Then Anya falls down a well and meets a ghost. What follows is an entertaining, quirky, story that follows Anya as she learns who she is and what she believes in.
You can find a wonderful review of this book here: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2011/12/anyas-ghost.html
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Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Author’s website: http://www.studiojjk.com/
Follow on Twitter: @StudioJJK
I love Lunch Lady – the entire series. This latest installment doesn’t disappoint. Just read Mr. Schu’s review:
Sweet salami! Lunch Lady is back and fiercer than ever! Hiyah! Thud! Pow!
I should just end there, but I won’t. It this volume the kids, Dee, Hector, and Terrence, are back as they head to the art museum for a field trip. While there they notice something strange, some of the artwork appears to be fake! They, along with the amazing Lunch Ladies, try to get to the bottom of the mystery. Kids love these books, especially all of the Lunch Ladies great gadgets made from items in the kitchen. That always reminds me of James Bond’s scenes with Q and the crazy items he would dream up.
You can find more about the Lunch Lady series from one of its biggest cheerleaders, John Schu:
http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2011/08/updated-lunch-lady-trailer.html
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Zita the Spacegirl Ben Hatke
Author’s website: http://www.househatke.com/
Great series. I was first introduced to Ben Hatke in the graphic novel Flight and was thrilled to find this book by him. Zita and her friend Joseph are out exploring one afternoon when they find a giant pit. Next to the pit is an object with a red button. Joseph tries to convince Zita not to push it, but, like most kids would find, it is just too tempting. Once Zita pushes the button, a portal appears and these giant tentacles take Joseph through to another world. Zita soon follows, determined to rescue her friend. She finds a new world full of wondrous creatures and tons of adventure.
Here’s an interview with Ben Hatke on the School Library Journal’s blog:
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Babymouse #14: Mad Scientist Jennifer Holm, Matthew Holm
Author’s website: http://www.jenniferholm.com/ and http://www.matthewholm.net/
Follow on Twitter: @jenniholm @mattholm
Couldn’t find a trailer for Mad Scientist, but this one from Jennifer and Matthew wishing you Happy Holidays is timely.
Wow, it is hard to begin to express my love for this series. One, I had a student two years ago who had said she wasn’t a reader. This is the series that convinced her she could read AND that she loved to read. I am forever it debt to Jennifer and Matthew for that. Two, who doesn’t love Babymouse? And, after sharing a video of Colby Sharp declaring, “Real men read Babymouse!” my boys can’t get enough of it. Finally, while wonderful in its own right, this is the book that introduced the world to Squish, so it is fabulous for many reasons.
This installment of Babymouse finds her entering the school Science Fair, determined to win, of course. As she struggles to find a perfect experiment she heads to the local pond to look at “blobs” or amoebas and befriends an amoeba named Squish.
Fun interview found here with both Jennifer and Matthew: http://graphicnovelreporter.com/content/mouse-roars-interview
And that’s a wrap for the graphic novel category! Hopefully you see some of your favorites on our list. If you find a few you didn’t know as I did, head down to your local library. There is some great reading to be had on this list. And before sending you on your way, let me just put in this one last plug for graphic novels. We have a lot of kids out there that struggle in reading. Graphic novels have been a lifeline for some of my students. For some, it is the first books they really understand. For others, it is the first book they actually like. If you haven’t embraced graphic novels yet, please give them a chance. This is a great list to begin with if you are new to them. If you want more recommendations, ask me on Twitter: @katsok.
Nerdy Book Club 
I love the Holm siblings video. AWESOME!
Oh man! I was hoping Bake Sale by Sara Varon would make it. I loved that book!
What did you like about it? I love Sara Varon books, especially Robot Dreams.
I’m a total foodie (thus my blog name) and so I loved that the food aspect of the book was more than just a surface-level mention. I got the sense that Varon herself has an appreciation for food because it wasn’t just a fluffy book about cupcakes. There was actually some food knowledge dropped in there too. Plus I thought the illustrations were absolutely darling.
I also have a lot of girls at my school who love to bake so that book is right up their alley.
I haven’t read Bake Sale by Varon yet, will get that one at the library. I love that the Nerdy Book Club award has introduced me to some wonderful books I have’t read yet. Awesome!
Can you believe I JUST read my 1st graphic novel LAST NIGHT???? 🙂 I had never been interested in them before, but it looks like I might just have to read the ones mentioned above. I read SMILE by Raina Telgemeier and loved it!!! Poor Raina and her 2 front teeth (or lack of!). The only graphic novels that my 6th graders have read are the Naruto series and only 2 out of 49 have read those!
Shannon
http://extremereadingandwriting.wordpress.com/
What a great one to start with, my students and I loved Smile! Keep reading them, there are some fabulous graphic novels out there.
A fantastic group! According to one of my sixth graders, Anya’s Ghost is, “the best graphic novel of all time.” I cannot keep any of these on the shelves. Congratulations to the winners and lucky us for getting to read them all.
Another perfect group! I love them all!