Book 12: Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons.
The first paragraph:
"Tuesday
First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL, not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY told her to get one that didn't say 'diary' on it."
This is an unusual graphic novel - it doesn't have the 'boxes' I normally associate with graphic novels. It looks like it's hand-written on lined paper, with cartoon-like drawings at least every page (and often more than one per page). It's not a book I would have picked up for myself, but I had two students check it out as soon as it hit my shelf, and both of them read the next book in the series (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules). There's a third book, but it isn't out yet.
I was surprised - I started reading it because my students told me it was good and I wanted to be able to recommend it based on my own reading of it. But I did end up enjoying it - the sarcastic/desperate tone and the humiliations of middle school rang true.
And, I must brag: my copy is signed by the author. Yes, the NCTE conference rocks. I got a bunch of books signed. The students love that the author wrote a note to them in it.
Book 13: Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
The first paragraph(ish):
"This is me when I was 10 years old. This was in 1980. And this is a class photo. I'm sitting on the far left so you don't see me. From left to right: Golnaz, Mahshid, Narine, Minna."
The book/graphic novel is a memoir (ohhhh... I could use it in my memoir unit next fall!) of Satrapi's childhood in Iran.
This is a more traditionally recognizable graphic novel in the sense that it has 'boxes,' captions, bubbles for what people say, and focuses more on the drawings. But it does step outside my experience in other ways. The drawings are black and white - although there is some texture, there is no gray. At all. Her voice continues in that very matter-of-fact tone, even (perhaps especially?) when she is talking about people being tortured and murdered.
There is a sequel: Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, which I will now have to go buy - just so I can find out what happens next!
The first paragraph:
"Tuesday
First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL, not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY told her to get one that didn't say 'diary' on it."
This is an unusual graphic novel - it doesn't have the 'boxes' I normally associate with graphic novels. It looks like it's hand-written on lined paper, with cartoon-like drawings at least every page (and often more than one per page). It's not a book I would have picked up for myself, but I had two students check it out as soon as it hit my shelf, and both of them read the next book in the series (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules). There's a third book, but it isn't out yet.
I was surprised - I started reading it because my students told me it was good and I wanted to be able to recommend it based on my own reading of it. But I did end up enjoying it - the sarcastic/desperate tone and the humiliations of middle school rang true.
And, I must brag: my copy is signed by the author. Yes, the NCTE conference rocks. I got a bunch of books signed. The students love that the author wrote a note to them in it.
Book 13: Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis: The Story of a ChildhoodThe first paragraph(ish):
"This is me when I was 10 years old. This was in 1980. And this is a class photo. I'm sitting on the far left so you don't see me. From left to right: Golnaz, Mahshid, Narine, Minna."
The book/graphic novel is a memoir (ohhhh... I could use it in my memoir unit next fall!) of Satrapi's childhood in Iran.
This is a more traditionally recognizable graphic novel in the sense that it has 'boxes,' captions, bubbles for what people say, and focuses more on the drawings. But it does step outside my experience in other ways. The drawings are black and white - although there is some texture, there is no gray. At all. Her voice continues in that very matter-of-fact tone, even (perhaps especially?) when she is talking about people being tortured and murdered.
There is a sequel: Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, which I will now have to go buy - just so I can find out what happens next!
1 comment:
I picked up Diary of a Wimpy Kid last fall... I was intrigued by the concept. I wasn't blown away by the brilliance of the writing, but it is definitely one that the kids keep checking out. If it's not there when someone wants it, they look up the person who has it and hunts them down until they return it! Not since HP has a book been in such demand. It's neat. :)
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