Graphic novel discovery

THE POWER OF

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Mental Health

Horror

Islamic Revolution

The Holocaust

Panels

PUNCH

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Surreal humor

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Physical disabilities

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Give Us Some Reccomendations!

wonder of childhood

Parental Neglect

Unlearning stereotypes

Self-help

The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale

Art Spiegelman

Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.

The touchstone reader for this week is readers who feel ashamed of enjoying graphic novels, readers who want a way to express the variety of the medium, and patrons who have negative opinions on graphic novels. I want the readers to feel confident in what they like. I want the patrons to have their veiwpoint shifted.

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story

Marie Kondo, Yuko Uramoto (Illustrator)

Marie Kondo presents the fictional story of Chiaki, a young woman in Tokyo who struggles with a cluttered apartment, messy love life, and lack of direction. After receiving a complaint from her attractive next-door neighbor about the sad state of her balcony, Chiaki gets Kondo to take her on as a client. Through a series of entertaining and insightful lessons, Kondo helps Chiaki get her home--and life--in order.

The Moth Keeper

Kay O'Neill

Anya is finally a Moth Keeper, the protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. Her village needs the flower to continue thriving and Anya is excited to prove her worth and show her thanks to her friends with her actions, but what happens when being a Moth Keeper isn’t exactly what Anya thought it would be?

My Brother's Husband

Gengoroh Tagame

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi's estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji's past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it's been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it.

Yotsuba&!

Kiyohiko Azuma

Hello! This is Koiwai Yotsuba, Yotsuba Koiwai...um, YOTSUBA! Yotsuba moved with Daddy to a new house from our old house waaaaaaay over there! And moving's fun 'cos people wave! (Ohhhh!!) And Yotsuba met these nice people next door and made friends to play with (one of 'em acted like one of those bad strangers Daddy told Yotsuba not to go with, but it was okay in the end). I hope we get to play a lot. And eat ice cream! And-and-and...oh yeah! You should come play with Yotsuba too!

Because of the nature of graphic novels, you need more than just the quote to understand the meaning. I wanted to create an interactive element to showcase how the medium can artfully create lasting impressions on a reader. Staff and library club members will pick out some of their favorite panels. For patrons, they could either write down the title and page number of the panel on provided sheet of paper OR ask a librarian right there and then to photocopy a certain panel. The provided paper will have one or two requests for panels already on the board to break the ice. This element will give readers a chance to have their voice heard on what makes graphic novels important to them while those who need a change of heart will get to see the power of the medium.

As the title says! The patron will be instructed to give the title and their own tags for the GN. An open face list will give GN enjoyers a chance to show off their favorites in a space made just for that. They'll also have a chance to see just how many other people also like GN. The change of heart-ers will see just how many different people admire GN. This may give them pause as they may have never considered how many people actually like them. The tags are another way to have patrons join in on the display's theme. The variety that this list will (hopefully) have will just be another way to prove the point.

Nichijou: my ordinary life

Keiichi Arawi

In this just-surreal enough take on the "school genre" of manga, a group of friends grapple with all sorts of unexpected situations in their daily lives as high schoolers. The gags, jokes, puns, and haiku keep this series off-kilter even as the cast grow and change. Check it out and meet the new ordinary.

Hidden Systems

Dan Nott

What was the first message sent over the internet? How much water does a single person use every day? How was the electric light invented?For every utility we use each day, there’s a hidden history–a story of intrigue, drama, humor, and inequity. This graphic novel provides a guided tour through the science of the past–and reveals how the decisions people made while inventing and constructing early technology still affect the way people use it today.

Uzumaki

Junji Ito

Kurouzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but a pattern: UZUMAKI, the spiral—the hypnotic secret shape of the world.

Ideally, depending on the space and the amount of people involved, I'd like the spine facing books to have little tags attached to them. This would come from someone who read the book already and what tag they think is important for the readers to know of. This design choice will also give more voices a way to speak. If patrons become interested in adding their own tags, a librarian could possibly collect the patron's suggestions and use it as a way to cycle more books in the display OR use it for a display in the future.

Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful

Darryl Cunningham

In Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful, Darryl Cunningham offers an illuminating analysis of the origins and ideological evolutions of four key players in the American private sector—Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and oil and gas tycoons Charles and David Koch. What emerges is a vital critique of American capitalism and the power these individuals have to assert a corrupting influence on policy-making, political campaigns, and society writ large.

My Lesbain Experience with Loneliness

Nagata Kabi

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is a raw and heartfelt account of one young woman’s struggles with her sexuality, mental well-being, and feelings of alienation in our modern age. Told using expressive artwork that invokes both laughter and tears, this moving and highly entertaining single volume depicts not only the artist’s burgeoning sexuality, but many other personal aspects of her life that will resonate with readers.

Speech bubbles with some atypical tags or tags not usually paired with graphic novels. Made to draw attention and show variety outside of the covers. This is an easy way for GN lovers to point out to others just how rich the medium is. It can also provide the patrons with more information on types of GN since they may not have been aware before. Those in need of a change of heart may be drawn to the odd combination of tags, speech bubles, and GNs where they will learn that hey, these comics do have some depth.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Hiromu Arakawa

In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother’s bodies...the legendary Philosopher’s Stone.

The Complete Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming–both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.