I work in a public library system, and a staff member recently voiced concerns about fictionalized dialogue in graphic novel biographies. This person feels that the presence of that dialogue should exclude them from our biography collection, as all books contained in that collection are books of fact, not imagination. Have you encountered such concerns [...]
I’m looking for some advice regarding the teen anime club…We started fine without any problems but within the last few months I’ve had the yaoi fandom take over the club. It’s just 6 girls out of around 15 members, but they really tend to dominate and make the others uncomfortable…Nothing I say seems to have [...]
That photo to the right is what greeted me today when I got to my Teen Room. We all know how well-loved our graphic novels are—we can see them loved to bits, literally. Given that every library eventually runs out of shelf space, and titles slowly fall to bits, no matter how popular a collection [...]
Graphic novels and comics, just like other formats in kids and teen media, still have a ways to go to be a medium that consistently reflects the diversity and variation in our world, but I am always happy to see titles that broaden our views. In reading Craig Thompson’s Habibi (very much not for kids) this [...]
Given the engaging discussions we all had last week in the Question Tuesday column, I thought I’d follow up this week with a snapshot of where age ratings and recommendations are right now. Many readers commented on how they look for age ratings, questioned how they’re explained, and struggled with how much weight to give [...]
This week, I’m not so much answering a question from our readers but instead asking a question OF our readers. I am currently teaching an online continuing education class for the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. It’s always a fun time, and I always learn just as much if not more [...]
Is the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series ok for my middle school, for 7th to 9th grade readers? Do you have any comments on the series Death Note for a high school? As a graphic novel fan and expert, I get asked about the appropriateness of all kinds of series. Different age ranges and different institutions, [...]
How can I find out about new juvenile graphic novels and upcoming titles? How can I keep up with juvenile series (gn)? – C. A., from Virginia There are a few different tacks to take when it comes to keeping track of upcoming titles. There are, of course, the usual sources: Library Journal, School Library [...]
As this is Banned Books Week, here at Question Tuesday I thought I’d put together some basic thoughts on what to do if a graphic novel is challenged in your library. This is not from a specific question from a librarian, but more a general response from years of being consulted about challenges to comics [...]
It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for questions! The Good Comics for Kids Question Tuesday column is here to do one thing: answer your questions! Borrowing the idea from novelist John Green (you can check out his famously entertaining video blog with his brother Hank, vlogbrothers, including his Question Tuesday videos, here), we aim to answer all your burning questions [...]
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