In a previous post, I talked about the power of graphic novels.

I’m excited to say we have a middle school (grades 5th-8th) graphic novel book club that meets monthly. (The second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm. See the end of this post to sign-up!)

We met for the first time in November. Our first book, “The New Kid” by Jerry Craft is the first graphic novel to win the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. It’s a book about starting over at a new school, diversity, and fitting in.

So what did our kids say? We all started with pretty strong thumbs up. After our discussion, we ticked up just a bit more. The kids thought it read real. That it sounded like a kid. We talked about graphic novels in general, language, bullies, and how it feels to be a new kid.

Our second book, in December, was “El Deafo” by Cece Bell. It’s a semi-autobiographical novel about the author losing her hearing as a young child.

So what did our kids say? We all started up with a thumbs up – some stronger than others. We talked about why the author made the characters bunnies, the importance of language and communication, and friendship. And we taught each other some sign language!

Our third book was “Mighty Jack” by Ben Hatke. This book combines realism and fantasy. A bit of Jack and the Beanstalk in the modern world. Jack is tasked with watching his younger sister who has autism in the summer. With some mysterious seeds, their normal garden quickly grows into a magical jungle! It was a fantastic discussion with us flipping through the pages to share our thoughts. Then we played a drawing game that was fun and frustrating and definitely worth playing again!

We voted on our next books with “When Stars are Scattered” by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson and “Witch Boy” by Molly Knox Ostertag planned for later in 2022.

If you are in 5th-8th grade (or your kid is) click here to sign-up.

Beth-Children’s Library Assistant and Book Club Moderator