I don’t know when I thought of the idea to check out graphic novels from the library to read in my classroom and evaluate for possible addition to my classroom library but the project is going well so far.
Since many of them are significantly shorter than my normal reads and my primary purpose for reading is just to evaluate them for classroom library inclusion, I decided to separate out these books when I review them.
These reviews will consist of a brief plot synopsis (if I remember), my opinion, and whether I will add it to a list to eventually purchase for my classroom.
This one did not work. It is supposed to be an adaptation in two ways (adaptation to graphic novel and to include the iconic cartoon characters) of Dracula. In my opinion, the adaptation stuck too close to the syntax of the older language as well as the plot beats (save for a replacement of blood with beats). I will not put this one on the classroom library list.
I picked up this graphic memoir of an accomplished comic book artist thinking that it might possibly work. It, unfortunately, will not. Although some graphic memoirs work for all ages, some will not. This is one of them.
This is the first of Disney movie to graphic novel adaptation that I read in this episode. I have not watched either of the original movies. In comparison to the other which I will describe next, this one told a coherent story that made sense without background knowledge of the movie. I did enjoy this one and will add it to the list.
This one did a poor job of adapting the movie, making frequent narrator summaries to move the plot progress. This cut short any sort of character development and left the plot feeling choppy. I will not add this one.
I really enjoyed this one which told the story of escapades of Shuri and T’Challah years before the events of the Marvel cinematic universe. (I do not have any frame of reference for all the comic book versions.) I think my students will enjoy this as well so this one gets an easy yes.
I liked returning to the Kane Chronicles world, especially in this graphic novel version. The artist did a fantastic job bringing the narrative to life, including Set and some of the other evil characters which look truly terrifying. I will add this one and the rest of the trilogy as well.
I simply love this story. This makes it difficult to separate my nostalgic love for the story from the adaptation. That being said, I think that the artist did an excellent job adapting all of the iconic scenes so I will add this one to the classroom library.
After ten-ish years of teaching middle school, I finally picked up a Raina Telgemeier book. (I have two more on deck.) As others have said, many of these events make much more sense for a high school setting rather than the actual middle school setting. I still enjoyed the narrative with all the different charcters and their relationships. Some of my students have already read and loved this.
