Great Graphic Wednesday is a weekly blog posting. Check here every Wednesday for reviews of recommended graphic novels, by members of the Tinlids Graphic Novel Book Club.

Title: Hereville – How Mirka Got Her Sword Written and illustrated by Barry Deutsch

Details: colour illustrations, reads left to right Hardcover ISBN 9780810984226

Grades: 4+

Summary:(taken from back of book) Move over Buffy! Spunky, strong-willed eleven-year-old Mirka Hirschberg isn’t interested in knitting lessons from her stepmother, or how-to-find-a-husband advice from her sister, or you-better-not warnings from her brother. There’s only one thing Mirka does want: to fight dragons! But she’ll need a sword – and therein lies the tale.

Review: What an unusual book! I learned just as much about Orthodox Judaism as I enjoyed the fantasy tale of witches and trolls, talking pigs and magic sweaters. Deutsch’s illustrations reminded me stylistically of Reina Telgemeier’s own from “The Babysitter’s Club”, and I have a fondness for her clean, expressive but simple people. Barry Deutsch is willing to alter the style when the situation calls for it, such as on pages 46-49 when Mirka traps and catches the terrorizing pig – her eyes go from heavy lidded to simple dots to comic bug eyed astonishment. The cultural nuances and practices could have been overwhelming, but the author translates Yiddish terms and caption boxes explain other situations (like Mirka hiding her non-Jewish books on page 29 or preparations for the Sabbath on page 77). The balance between the mundane and fantastical is a fine one and as a reader I was often surprised to be in one camp while I thought I was in the other. Mirka’s stepmother Fruma is a mysterious character – very practical, yet known by the mystical woman in the forest. Other than the Yiddish name-calling (and Mirka’s less-than-ladylike thumping of her brother) there are no objectionable portions – after all, the women wear very modest long-sleeved shirts and long skirts; no nudity in here! I’d guess that grades 4 and up could read this, similar to the publisher’s denotation for ages 8-12.

Diana Maliszweski is a teacher-librarian at Agnes MacPhail Public School, and editor of The Teaching Librarian Magazine.

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Great Graphic Wednesdays is a weekly blog posting. Check here every Wednesday for reviews of recommended graphic novels, by members of the Tinlids Graphic Novel Book Club.

Amelia Rules True Things (Adults Don’t Want Kids to Know)

Written and Illustrated by Jimmy Gownley

Details: Colour comic reads left to right. Paperback ISBN 9781416986096 Hardcover ISBN 9781416986119

Grade 4-6

Description (from publisher): Meet Amelia Louise McBride. She was forced to move out of Manhattan after her parents decided to get divorced, and is now living in a small town. She's survived being the new kid, multiple trips to the principal's office, and even her first kiss. But it remains to be seen if she'll survive turning eleven! The sixth volume starts with a bang: a huge birthday party featuring surprise guests and a special song from Aunt Tanner! It all seems too good to be true, until it turns out . . . it is. Suddenly, Amelia's friends are fighting all the time. She gets the worst report card of her life. And when she finally musters the guts to tell a certain boy how she feels about him, she brutally learns why it's called a "crush." Aunt Tanner would know just what to do—if she were around. But with her new album and maybe a new boyfriend, she doesn't seem to have time for Amelia anymore.

Review : Oh the memory of ‘tween drama! It’s so funny when you look back on it, but when you’re 11 and just starting to experience all of those confusing and unexpected feelings about your family, it sometimes gets blown out of proportion. I love all of the Amelia books but this one is my favourite so far. I really enjoyed getting to know Amelia’s parents and her aunt Tanner a bit better. Amelia is starting to understand them better too. She’s starting to understand that adults actually had a life and their own drama when they were younger. And they still do!

Jim Gownley’s illustrations are brilliant; the facial expressions deliver that extra bit of information that tells you so much more about the character. Funny gestures and lots of action shots that make you feel like you’re right there in Amelia’s house. I also love Aunt Tanner’s quotes which pop up now and then… like “I’m still waiting to use algebra.”

Maria Martella is the owner of Tinlids Inc.

Other Amelia Books:

Amelia Rules: The Whole World's Crazy

Amelia Rules: What Makes you Happy

Amelia Rules: Superheroes

Amelia Rules: When the Past is Present

Amelia Rules: Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular

'Great Graphic Wednesday' is a weekly blog posting. Check here every Wednesday for reviews of recommended graphic novels, by members of the Tinlids Graphic Novel Book Club.

Big Nate from the Top

Written and Illustrated by Lincoln Peirce

Details: Black and white comic reads left to right. Paperback ISBN 9781449402327

Grade 3-7

Summary (from back of book) Big Nate, a.k.a. middle schooler Nate Wright, is eleven years old, four-and-a-half feet tall, and the wunderkind creation of cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. Nate is also the star of six novelized books to be published by HarperCollins, the first of which debuted on the New York Times children's best-seller list. This Big Nate Collection collects Peirce's Big Nate strips, originally published only in newspapers.

For those not familiar with Big Nate, think Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Calvin and Hobbes. Nate is a self-described genius and a sixth-grade Renaissance man equipped with only a #2 pencil and the unshakable belief that he is destined for greatness (a fortune cookie told him so). He fights a daily battle against overzealous teachers, undercooked cafeteria food, and all-around conventionality. He's the original rebel without a clue, alternately abrasive and endearing to classmates and teachers alike. Throughout Peirce's Big Nate Collection, Nate blazes an unforgettable trail through the sixth grade at P.S. 38, earning straight A’s in laughs (and numerous detentions) along the way.

Review: If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, you’ll love the Big Nate books; the format is exactly the same, except this one is a collection of the Big Nate comic strips, and not written in chapters like the others. The illustrations provide just as much humour as the text, in the details of facial expressions and body language; both work together to enhance our understanding of the hilarious daily situations Nate finds himself in.

I love how confident Nate is, even though he has so many “unlucky days”. I think he’s much more loveable than Greg Heffly from Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which I also like). Nate is good-hearted even when he’s getting into trouble at school or at home, and there’s a real sense of hope in his attitude. Somehow you just know he’s going to be okay, no matter what disaster strikes. I actually laughed out loud – more than once.

Other Big Nate Titles:

In a Class by Himself hardcover ISBN 9780061944369

Big Nate Strikes Again paperback ISBN 978-0007355174 Hardcover ISBN 9780061944369

Maria Martella is the owner of Tinlids Inc.

I’ve done hundreds of booktalks for groups of students, teachers and librarians during my bookselling career and I don’t think there has ever been a booktalk that hasn’t included at least one Groundwood title. What I love about this publisher’s books is that they aren’t “market-led”. They don’t publish books written to a formula. I think Patsy Aldana (publisher of Groundwood) makes some very brave and important choices in the books she chooses to publish. Groundwood books represent voices we would not otherwise hear. Isn’t it wonderful that a child living in a trailer in northern Saskatchewan can see themselves in a book (read Laura Croza’s picture book “I Know Here”). This is just one perfect example of the way our children learn about themselves and others.

So, it’s no surprise that on December 30, 2010 Patsy Aldana, publisher of Groundwood books, was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada. She has been such a strong promoter of literacy in Canada as well as internationally (she was also President of The International Board on Books for Young People IBBY).

I’d like to thank Patsy Aldana for providing us with so many amazing choices, and for reminding us about how much there is still to do in ensuring that every child becomes a reader.

Read the Globe and Mail article.