To This Day by Shane Koyczan

Powerful. 

Emotional. 

Beautiful.

To this Day is a must read for anyone who has been to school or in a group of people.
You will recognize yourself in these pages.
As the bullied, the bully, the bystander.

Amazing and evoking illustrations from thirty artists fill the pages and bring Koyczan's words into multidimensional life. In book form, this poem (and don't let the term poem dissuade you from reading this) reaches out more personally than the video or live performance can. It's just you and his words. And your own experiences. Your own memories. And, your own promise for your future.


In February 2013, Shane Koyczan's passionate anti-bullying poem "To This Day" electrified the world. An animated video of the lyric narrative went viral, racking up over 12 million hits to date and inspiring an international movement against bullying in schools. Shane later performed the piece to sustained applause on the stage of the 2013 annual TED Conference.  Now this extraordinary work has been adapted into an equally moving and visually arresting book.

Born of Shane's own experiences of being bullied as a child, "To This Day" expresses the profound and lasting effect of bullying on an individual, while affirming the strength and inner resources that allow people to move beyond the experience. A heartfelt preface and afterword, along with resources for kids affected by bullying, make this book an invaluable centerpiece of the anti-bullying movement.

Troublemaker: book one - a graphic novel by Janet Evanovich

Alex, an auto mechanic and spotter for race car driver Sam Hooker, is drawn to trouble like a giant palmetto bug to a day old taco. Unfortunately she’s also drawn to Hooker in the same fashion. There’s no steering clear of trouble or Hooker when friends, Felicia and Rosa, need help. Rosa has gone missing, and in order to find her, Barnaby and Hooker will have to go deep into the underbelly of Miami and south Florida, surviving Petro Voodoo, explosions, gift-wrapped body parts, a high-speed swamp chase, and Hooker’s mom.

A graphic novel, written by Janet and Alex Evanovich, and illustrated by Joëlle Jones (Madame Xanadu), Troublemaker leads Barnaby and Hooker, from hit novels Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, through the palm tree lined, sun filled streets of one the hottest cities in the world! (synopsis from www.evanovich.com)

Read an interview with author Janet Evanovich about writing her first graphic novel here.

My thoughts: I like the story and the characters. Love the dogs that live in her novels. The art work was quite good. Perhaps it is because I have read so many of Evanovich's other works in novel form that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I missed the format of a novel for a story like this. There simply isn't enough space in the graphic novel to include all the delightful conversations and observations of her characters. This book was okay, but knowing I can get even more from one of her novels, I will be returning to that format for this author.

You can have a look for yourself with a free preview available from the author's website here.

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure

A female pharaoh? A woman general in the Kahn's army? A female Viking raider? No way, you say? Look again. Appearances can be deceiving ? Based on legends, poems, letters and first-hand accounts, these seven biographical tales tell of women who disguised themselves as men. From ancient Egypt through the Middle Ages to the 19th century, this historically accurate graphic treatment is perfect to transport readers back to bygone eras. The lives of these daring women were often filled with danger and the fear of discovery. However, for the sake of freedom, ambition, love or adventure, these women risked everything. No Girls Allowed brings a contemporary edge to a part of history largely untold ? until now.

An informative and stylish read, No Girls Allowed tells of brave and creative girls and women throughout the ages who defied the social restrictions of their gender.  I would have liked to have seen colour in the illustrations, but the feeling of inspiration still came through.  I especially liked that the tales ended with an update or sorts on the women, what happened to them when known and what was likely to have happened when not known.  These are not simply tales of individuals but of the influence and affects they had on those around them and on other women of the time.

Duped! by Andreas Schroeder and Remy Simard

Duped! True Stories of the World's Best Swindlers

9 tales of famous scams
each includes illustrations and a few graphic novel styled pages
covers the main players, how the scam played out, motives, why it was successful, how it ended and what happened to the schemers and victims after.
Includes quick fact boxes with interesting  information about the time, country, inventions, etc. related to the scam

If this interests you, have a look at Schroeder and Simard's next collaboration  Robbers!  In the same style, this outing examines real life stories of thievery and mayhem.

That's not REAL reading!

Gripe of the Week…

“Children deprived of words become school dropouts; dropouts deprived of hope behave delinquently. Amateur censors blame delinquency on reading immoral books and magazines, when in fact, the inability to read anything is the basic trouble.” ― Peter S. Jennison 

Photo by welcometolearn (Flickr)

I get so defensive when I hear staff tell students that they can’t read a magazine or a comic, but rather need to sign out a "real" book.  Seriously, you stand in a library and forbid reading? Out loud.  In front of students.  My circulation stats have gone up across the board once magazines were made available for check out.  When we brought in Graphic Novels, students who had never ventured into the library were claiming corners to hunker down in.  The demands for sequels and more, please, more did not come from my fiction readers (they asked gently or perhaps wrote a note), they came from the excited faces of students who never thought they belonged in a library.  Finally, we had something for the "non-readers" in the class.  Something to, you know, read.

In my experience, magazines lead to books, you know, those fact books we complain are never used? Magazines are samplers, wonderful teases opening up the worlds of thought. And have they never picked up Marvel?  You can’t read just one.  Want students to learn about archetypes and character development and morality?  What exactly to they think comics are all about???  Possibly, it is they that only look at the pictures!