Black text on white background that reads "Discovery Lists." On the image, there is a black film reel in the upper left-hand corner. On the bottom right hand corner, there is a music staff with music notes on it. Between the words "Discovery" and "Lists" there is a black and white sketch of an opened book with flowers growing out of it.

Celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: A Discovery List

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10,…

Patrick Recommends: Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Non-Fiction Graphic Novels

The Peabody Institute of Danvers not only has superhero graphic novels, but a growing collection of non-fiction titles. These books use sequential art to make complex topics more accessible. They work especially well with reluctant readers. Make no mistake; these books are complex, funny, and smart. Several of the titles have even made it onto…

Rachel Reviews: Spill Zone – Scott Westerfeld

Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within its borders. Uncanny manifestations and lethal dangers now await anyone who enters the Spill Zone. The Spill claimed Addison’s parents and scarred her little sister, Lexa, who Addison provides for by photographing the Zone’s twisted attractions on illicit midnight rides. When an…

Rachel’s TBR, Graphic Novels Edition

Thanks to Lumberjanes and Ms. Marvel NOW! – which I tore through in hours – my love of graphic novels has exploded tenfold. Below are some of the current releases (and also some classics) that I’ve added to my TBR* pile within the last year. – Rachel Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan…

Captions: Transformers Graphic Novels

Buying comics for the library is a tricky thing. For one thing, we’re not buying for the collector. If you know Comics People, than I’m sure you have a friend who obsessively collects every Batman comic or possible X-Men tie-in. We don’t really buy for those readers as they bought the single issues, subscribed to the title, and have been pouring over the message boards to see what’s coming next. Instead, we buy comics for the casual reader. [Caption column by Drew]

Captions: Summer Comic Challenge, Part 1

Lately, I’ve been going through a bit of Protagonist Fatigue. For some reason, the normal wise-cracking, don’t count him out when he’s down hero hasn’t been doing it for me. Maybe this is part of a shift in taste away from capes or at least your standard up-up-and-away superhero story, but for whatever reason this summer I decided to take a break and try to read some comics with something new to me…

Michelle Recommends (II)

Notes from the Internet Apocalypse – Wayne Gladstone Have you ever guffawed while reading? I mean, out of the blue: a burst of laughter, startling in the relative quiet. I did, with this book, not once or twice but so many times I lost count. This too-slim* satire imagines an internet-less world run amok with…

2014 Eisner Award Nomintations

“The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are considered the “Oscars” of the comics world. Named for the pioneering comics creator and graphic novelist Will Eisner, the awards are given out in more than two dozen categories during a ceremony each year at Comic-Con International: San Diego.” [X] If you have a minute (or four) to…

Nightwing: The Great Leap – Peter J. Tomasi

From the Publisher: “Stepping out of Batman’s shadow, the original Boy Wonder now breaks the circle of crime and corruption on the mean streets of New York City as Nightwing. When the Dark Knight’s adversary Two-Face steps in to take a bite out of the Big Apple, it’s up to Nightwing to pluck the city…

Iron Man Noir – Scott Snyder, Manuel Garcia (Illustrator)

Publisher’s Summary: “Finally, IRON MAN enters the world of MARVEL NOIR, with an action-packed pulp reimagining like you’ve never seen before! In 1938, Tony Stark is a daring adventurer, traveling the world in search of its mythological treasures and trying to forget the responsibilities of an iron magnate. From the Fountain of Youth to the…

American Widow ~ Alissa Torres

The tragedy on September 11, 2001 was an event that will go down in American history books as one that changed our nation. The late Howard Zinn reminds us that history is not just written by presidents and generals but regular people like you and me. What Alissa Torres does in this graphic novel memoir,…

Air: Letters from Lost Countries ~ G. Willow Wilson

Take an acrophobic  flight attendant, a mysterious traveler who changes his name based on his destination and a clandestine group of vigilantes and put them together and you have the making of a fun new graphic novel series. Blythe meets Zayn on various flights and begins to think that he’s a terrorist. But Zayn charms…

The Photographer ~ Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefevre, Frederic LeMercier

The late French photographer, Didier Lefevre, covered a Doctors Without Borders mission through war-torn Afghanistan in 1986. His good friend, Emmanuel Guibert turned his fascinating story into a stellar graphic novel. The team of doctors, nurses and mujahaddin traveled from Peshawar, Pakistan to their makeshift hospital in the Badakhshan region of Afghanistan. The journey itself…

Coming Soon: Stitches ~ David Small

David Small is an award-winning illustrator of children’s books. In Stitches, his first graphic novel, Mr. Small tells the story of his childhood. A childhood that is described on the back cover as one that “might have been imagined by Kafka.” Set in Detroit, young David is surrounded by unhappy people. His mother is constantly…

Caliber: First Canon of Justice, Volume 1

Sam Sarkar and Garrie Gastonny have taken the Arthurian legend and set it down in the American Northwest. Guided by a shaman named Whitefeather, young Arthur Pendergon takes possession of a gun that will help him tame a lawless land. You’ll encounter a lot of familiar Arthurian territory within the pages of Caliber, but the…

Fun Home ~ Alison Bechdel

In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of…

Two Graphic Novels That Take You Places

Essex County Vol.1: Tales From the Farm ~ Jeff Lemire This is a bittersweet coming of age tale about Lester, a ten year-old who still wears a superhero mask and cape. After his mother dies, Lester moves to his Uncle’s farm in Essex County, Ontario. Neither of them, knows quite what to do with the…

Super Spy ~ Matt Kindt

Set in World War II, Super Spy delves into the lives of spies: their motives, their tactics and their missions. Each chapter or “dossier” moves the story along, but not necessarily in a linear fashion. The dossiers are dated, so you could read it that way if you want. But, the original order allows Kindt…

House of Clay ~ Naomi Nowak

Naomi Nowak’s second graphic novel is an intriguing little volume. Josephine or Posy, as she likes to be called, comes from a once wealthy family. Her overly critical parents send her to a sweatshop so she can earn money for nursing school even though she faints at the sight of blood. During her stay at…

Stormbreaker ~ Anthony Horowitz

If you’re a fan of James Bond, you’ll love Alex Rider. Sure, he may only be fourteen, but he knows his way around a karate kick and a Portuguese Man-of-War. Complete with gadgets – zit cream that can eat through eight inches of metal, anyone? – Alex infiltrates a computer manufacturing company to discover why…

Frank Miller’s 300

After having seen Frank Miller’s 300 on opening night, I can tell you that it is brutal in its beauty, surreal in scope and cinematography, and totally gripping. It’s one of those films that, the more you think about it, the more it burrows under your skin. Based on Miller’s (also of Sin City fame)…

Graphic Novels

If you are new to graphic novels, here are some that were recently recommended by local librarians. These are the kind that are geared for adults. Maus – Art Spiegelman Persopolis I & II, Embroderies, Chicken with Plums – Marjane Satrapi Palestine – Joe Sacco Rabbi’s Cat – Johann Sfar Pride of Baghdad – Brian…