Getting Graphic (review)

Review

Don't be fooled by the racy title—the graphic in the title is not an indicator of content. Graphic novels and comic books are often lumped together, but Michelle Gorman's brief yet helpful guide will help clear up any confusion. This book, aimed at school and young adult librarians, campaigns for graphic novels and lays the groundwork for beginning a collection of this sort.

The book begins with a foreword by graphic novel artist Jeff Smith, who penned the popular series Bone. Smith explains how graphic novels helped teach him to read, and urges librarians to include them in libraries. The introduction of the book defines and explains graphic novels.

The first chapter discusses the history of the format, including major works. Following chapters focus on the place of graphic novels in both public and school libraries. These chapters include discussion on circulation and curriculum connection. The school library chapter includes a graph showing the literary elements used in several popular titles. There is also important information on reviews of graphic novels, publicity, cataloging, and shelving books in this format.

The remaining chapters include programming suggestions with templates for handouts. A section in the back suggests 50 graphic novels for an intermediate collection and several appendixes provide glossaries, bibliographies, and additional resources. For a thin volume this book contains a wealth of information.

There are some black and white illustrations—book covers, graphic novel ad campaigns, book, and such—but the book could really use more color illustrations to highlight the impressive artwork contained in graphic novels.

Overall, this book would be a great help to anyone interested in learning more about graphic novels or beginning such a collection in their library. A library with an established collection may also benefit from the collection development section as well as the programming ideas.

Reviewer's Bio

Beth is Book Review Editor for Library Student Journal. She is in her final semester as a Master of Library Science candidate at the University at Buffalo, focusing on school library media studies. She currently works at UB's Oscar A. Silverman Undergraduate Library.

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