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Cooperative Collection Development -- CCD: Graphic Novels

• The School Library System (SLS) Cooperative Collection Development Plan is developed as part of the resource sharing component of the plan of service.

This Collection

The Graphic Novel CCD collection collects graphic novels (comics) for middle school students.

Since 2005

New Books for this year...

Boruto, Vol. 5

The ninja adventures continue with Naruto's son, Boruto! Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He achieved his dream to become the greatest ninja in his village, and now his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But this is not his story... A new generation of ninja is ready to take the stage, led by Naruto's own son, Boruto! The mysterious organization called Kara makes their move to recover their lost vessel. What are their goals and how is it all connected to Konoha Village? Meanwhile, Boruto spars against the strongest opponent he could ever hope to find--his father!

Superman of Smallville

Thirteen-year-old Clark Kent knows. He has a super-secret--one his parents are constantly worried will get out. Clark promises to be extra careful, but when random things start flying off and disappearing, his parents threaten to ground him. Except he's innocent! If Superman isn't responsible . . . who is? Join Clark in this hilarious adventure as he sniffs out the real culprit. From New York Timesbestselling and Eisner Award-winning creators, Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani comes a fun, whimsical take on high school freshmen Clark Kent, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang.

The Tea Dragon Festival

"A lovely, gentle fantasy." -- KIRKUS Revisit the enchanting world of Tea Dragons with an all-new companion story to the two-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Tea Dragon Society! Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn's adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn's real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost. Critically-acclaimed graphic novelist Katie O'Neill delivers another charming, gentle fantasy story about finding your purpose, and the community that helps you along the way. "Gentle, inclusive, and heartwarming, The Tea Dragon Festival will bewitch existing fans and new readers alike." - Jen Wang (The Prince and the Dressmaker)

This Was Our Pact

A 2019 Booklist Editor's Choice A 2019 Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year A 2019 Parents Magazine Best Children's Books of the Year Ryan Andrews's This Was Our Pact is an astonishing, magical-realist adventure story for middle-grade readers. It's the night of the annual Autumn Equinox Festival, when the town gathers to float paper lanterns down the river. Legend has it that after drifting out of sight, they'll soar off to the Milky Way and turn into brilliant stars, but could that actually be true? This year, Ben and his classmates are determined to find out where those lanterns really go, and to ensure success in their mission, they've made a pact with two simple rules: No one turns for home. No one looks back. The plan is to follow the river on their bikes for as long as it takes to learn the truth, but it isn't long before the pact is broken by all except for Ben and (much to Ben's disappointment) Nathaniel, the one kid who just doesn't seem to fit in. Together, Nathaniel and Ben will travel farther than anyone has ever gone, down a winding road full of magic, wonder, and unexpected friendship*. *And a talking bear.

White Bird: a Wonder Story

The story of young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend. Sara's harrowing experience movingly demonstrates the power of kindness to change hearts, build bridges, and even save lives. As Grandmère tells Julian, "It always takes courage to be kind, but in those days, such kindness could cost you everything." 

How This Collection is Used in My School

Primarily comics are used as a motivation tool for reading, but some classes have studied graphic novels in their language arts or Art curriculum. Other classes have brought specific comics into the classroom that relate to a curriculum area.

Online Comics & Comics Strips

Common Core Comics

Worried that the common core is excluding comics from the curriculum? It doesn't have to.  Check out these resources.

Destiny Discover Search Box

Search the I.S. 278 library catalog for graphic novels.

Search by title, author, or keyword. Types of keyword/subjects: graphic novel, comic, etc.

Reference Titles

Worth a Thousand Words

This book will detail how and why graphic novels are complex texts with advanced-level vocabulary and how to read and analyze these texts. It also provides research to back up why they're such powerful educational tools. Furthermore it includes practical advice  on how to integrate these books into both ELA and content-area classrooms and provides an extensive list of appropriate graphic novels for K-8 students, lesson suggestions, paired graphic/prose reading suggestions, and links/additional resources for taking these texts further. 

Graphic Novels II

Covering genres from action/adventure and fantasy to horror, science fiction, and superheroes, this guide maps the vast and expanding terrain of graphic novels, describing and organizing titles as well as providing information that will help librarians to build and balance their graphic novel collections and direct patrons to read-alikes. * Introduces users to approximately 1,000 currently popular graphic novels and manga * Organizes titles by genre, subgenre, and theme to facilitate finding read-alikes * Helps librarians build and balance their graphic novel collections

101 Outstanding Graphic Novels

Expert Librarian Stephen Weiner (Rise of the Graphic Novel, The Hellboy Companion, The Will Eisner Companion), with the crowdsourcing help of professionals in the field, from artists to critics to leading comic store owners, has sifted through the bewildering thousands of graphic novels now available to come up with an outstanding, not-to-be-missed 101. Edited by Daniel J. Fingeroth, a writer (Spider-Man) and also an expert on comics (How to Create Comics from Script to Print [TwoMorrows Publishing, 2010]). An unmissable treat for comic fans.

Using Content-Area Graphic Texts for Learning

Using Content-Area Graphic Texts for Learning: A Guide for Middle-Level Educators by Dr. Meryl Jaffe and Dr. Katie Monnin empowers twenty-first-century, middle-school educators to not only better understand content-area graphic novels, but also teach them. Like their print counterparts, graphic texts reinforce traditional content-area thinking skills like memory, attention, cognition, language learning, and sequencing. Unlike print texts, however, comics and graphic novels reach out to diverse types of literacy learners and their particular reading strengths, making them the perfect, high-quality, literary-level texts for core content-area classrooms.

Graphic Novels in Your School Library

This dynamic book takes a look at graphic novels, examining how the format has become entwined in our culture, and the ways in which they can be used in the library and in the classroom.

Understanding Manga and Anime

NOT Available at IS 278 but available at BPL. Teens love it. Parents hate it. Librarians are confused by it; and patrons are demanding it. Libraries have begun purchasing both manga and anime, particularly for their teen collections. But the sheer number of titles available can be overwhelming, not to mention the diversity and quirky cultural conventions. In order to build a collection, it is important to understand the media and its cultural nuances. Many librarians have been left adrift, struggling to understand this unique medium while trying to meet patron demands as well as protests. This book gives the novice background information necessary to feel confident in selecting, working with, and advocating for manga and anime collections; and it offers more experienced librarians some fresh insights and ideas for programming and collections.

Understanding Comics

NOT AVAILABLE AT IS 278. BUT AVAILABLE AT BPL.
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, this innovative comic book provides a detailed look at the history, meaning, and art of comics and cartooning.

Comix Apps

Interested in reading comics on your mobile device? Looking to make comics mobile? These apps will allow you to do just that.

Curator

Esther Keller, Librarian

ekeller3@schools.nyc.gov

JHS 278 Marine Park

1925 Stuart Street

Brooklyn, NY 11229

(718) 375.3523 x2310

If you are a librarian in a New York City school library, you may contact the curator to inquire about borrowing titles from this collection.

Book Talks

Gene Luen Yang

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