Book: Serenity: Those Left Behind

Serenity: Those Left Behind
Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad, 2006

This is the graphic novel that fills in the space between the Joss Whedon show, Firefly and its movie - Serenity. In it we see the crew taking on a job that puts them in danger from the mysterious men with blue hands, and an old enemy who has a massive grudge.

It's a well drawn comic which at times makes you desperately wish there was more show to watch. The story wasn't that ground breaking - but maybe that was because I've already seen the movie. Obviously this is a comic for older readers - not a children's comic. But a good read for those who have enjoyed the tv series and want to work out what happens next.

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Book: Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Scott McCloud, 1993
Adult Book

My first adult book of the summer and it's a comic book. Actually it's a comic book about comics, which sounds a lot of fun. This book is a lot of fun, but there's also a tonne of theory in it which makes your head spin a little.

The comic takes you through the history of sequential art, before moving on to art theory (probably not interestin for most people) and then on to the much more interesting theory on comic gutters, frames, line, colour etc. After teaching comics at the end of this year, there was a lot more in here that I would have liked to have shared with the students and definitely will be sharing in the new year. I particularly loved the differences between European and Japanese comics.

This is quite a technical book and some of the art/language is a little older, so probably best from 12-14 years older. But if you have an avid comic reader around, or a comic drawer/writer - this would be a great book for them. And if you're planning on teaching comics, it really is an essential read.


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Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
Jeff Kinney, 2010

Greg heads back to school, except this time he's without his best friend Rowley after a serious falling out. Now he's dealing with the pressures of growing up, boy/girl parties, the strangeness of family and a housekeeper who refuses to work - and he's all on his own.

Despite their popularity this was the first Wimpy Kid book I've read. These books have usually been owned by students in my class and passed around that way, so I've never needed to buy them for the classroom. But with the main fans heading off to high school, I realise I'll need to fill that gap.

This was a highly enjoyable read - one I didn't want to put down. Greg is an engaging narrator, and you can easily understand his embarrassments and annoyances - even if you aren't a wimpy kid yourself. My only quibble is that this book was 'Australianised' - Greg is in High School, not middle school and some of the language has been changed. It does a real disservice to Australian kids who have been watching US shows and reading US books for years and understand that this is an American book (a movie kind of keys you in to that) - especially when a really Australian word (like lollies) pops up and throws you out of the text.

I'd connect this book with Totally Joe and The Misfits, Dork Diaries (which seems to be enjoyed by both girls and boys), Amelia Rules and Mail Order Ninja.


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Book: T. Rex vs Robo Dog 3000

T Rex Vs Robo Dog 3000
Scott Nickel, 2009

Another poorly written graphic novel, obviously aimed as a 'high interest reader'. Something to do with robots and things that help you go back in time. The art work was substantially better than in Billions of Bats - much easier to follow the panels across the page - but the story was once again predictable and basically boring.

How can you use graphic novels as high interest readers? Well a well written graphic novel is something that students will persist with, even if it is nominally above their 'reading level'. I had one student from a neighbouring class borrow the brilliant Babymouse series from me. The books took her the best part of a week to read, but she was reading them so well that she could write an extensive recall of them. Babymouse, Lunch Lady and the brilliant Owly (no words, but lots of story) are all great for capturing interest, and I know there are plenty of others that I don't even know about. We don't need to dumb down graphic novels; students are bright enough to be interested in them for their own sake.

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Book: Billions of Bats

Billions of Bats
Scott Nickel, 2007

Ugh. I've been dreading this review. This book reminds me very much of a book that I had the misfortune to pick up this year. You see, I watched a collegue's class for half an hour and his class were finishing a class book. It was a 'science literature' book, which basically meant the author was shooting for Magic School Bus in a short novel. It was the most horrendous piece of writing I think I have ever read. This book reminds me of that.

I've made a big effort to include graphic novels in my classroom over the last year and there have been some beauties from Smile, to Kat and Mouse to Amulet. This will not be one of the good ones. To begin with, it's not sure if it's a reader (you know, those awful books they use to 'teach' children how to read) or a science book in disguise. As a science book there's almost no science in it, and you're scrambling to figure out what the science might be. As a reader it's demeaning and boring. Some students might pick it up; I'm doubtful any will remember it.

The art was also dubious. A good comic draws your eyes in the right direction across the page. Several times this comic drew my eyes to panels that were not next in the sequence. I noted that this series came with advisers. My advice would be to dump the advice and concentrate on telling a good story. I'd put this one aside in favour of Magic School Bus or Max Axiom books for interesting books on science.

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