GetGraphic.org Gets Everyone Excited About Graphic Novels
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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 02/16/2009
Many teachers and librarians still don’t recognize the power of graphic novels in learning—and three librarians from the Buffalo-Erie County Public Library in New York are hoping to change that.
Meg Cheman, Britt White, and Peggy Shotnicki are the incredible minds behind Get Graphic: The World in Words and Pictures, a Web site designed to introduce teens, parents, librarians, and teachers to the wonderful world of graphic literature.
The site introduces the graphic format through an inviting PowerPoint presentation that explains teaching strategies, offers booklists, and invites kids to participate by writing their own stories as graphic novels. The kids’ work will eventually be compiled into a book, the cost of which is being underwritten by one of the library’s corporate partners, William S. Hein, a legal publisher.
The site—complete with a blog and MySpace page—allows local schools to borrow graphic novel classroom kits on certain titles such as Jim Ottaviani's Levitation (G.T. Labs, 2007) and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis (Pantheon, 2003). Each Graphic Novel Classroom Kit contains 30 copies of a selected book, a video, and a folder of support materials, including lesson plans for teaching the book.
The project, made possible in part by a $100,000 Family Literacy Library Services grant from the New York State Library and the New York State Education Department, has brought some of the biggest names in graphic novels to Buffalo.
Many graphic novel publishers have embraced Get Graphic and help support its work by bringing people such as Art Spiegelman, Scott McCloud, and the Printz Award-winning Gene Luen Yang to Buffalo. Harvey Pekar and Jessica Abel are also planning to travel to western New York to discuss their works.
Here’s a list of must-haves for libraries, suggested by White.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Gr 7 Up
Three fables highlighting the experience of growing up Chinese American. Jin faces the pressure of being the only Chinese-American student in his school; the mythical Monkey-King may be the most powerful monkey on earth but he wants to be a God; and Danny, a popular basketball player whose status is jeopardized when his cousin Chin-Kee comes to visit.
Bone: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith
Gr 3 Up
The story of three cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, who are thrown out of their town for cheating the citizens. They quickly get lost and separated, but one by one make their way into a valley full of magical creatures.
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Part I: My Father Bleeds History
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Part II: Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
Gr 9 Up
Spiegelman tells the story of his father’s harrowing survival of Hitler’s Europe. The story of survival is interlaced with Spiegelman’s afflicted relationship with his father.
Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan
Gr 9 Up
Six teenage friends come together as their parents have an annual get-together. To their horror, they realize that their parents are all evil supervillains. The teens decide to run away and vow to defeat their villainous parents.
