'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.

The Loser List - Written and Illustrated by Holly N Kowitt

Details: Black and white comic reads left to right. Hardcover ISBN 9780545240048

Grade 5-8

Summary: When Danny Shine (rhymes with "whine") finds out he's on the infamous Loser List in the girls' bathroom, his mission to erase it lands him in detention. That fateful afternoon, the school's bullies (who live in detention) discover that Danny can draw. Suddenly he's not a target anymore-he's a "bad boy"! Supplying tattoos and graffiti for the bullies is great, until Danny is unwittingly drawn into a crime. His new friends took a comic from Danny's favorite store, and now Danny has to steal it back, return it, and break off with the bullies-before he goes from dork to delinquent. Fans of Jeff Kinney, Jim Benton, and things that are absurd and also very, very funny will love this new, fully illustrated tale of middle-school torture.

Review: Right from the first “Me at-a-glance” page, you know enough about Danny to understand that he’s going to have a few social problems in school. He likes to draw stuff (like rusty cans and smelly socks, with his favourite pen (the T360), he’s still looking for a sport he’s good at, and his biggest fear is Chantal Davis. The illustrations are hilarious, and I love the “at-a-glance” introductions for the main characters. This is an obvious must-have choice for all libraries.

  To order The Loser List www.tinlids.ca

'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.

Skateboard Breakdown Written by Eric Fein, Illustrated by Gerardo Sandoval

Details: Paperback, colour illustrations, read left-to-right. ISBN 9781434227850

Grade: 4 and up

Summary (from back of book): Ty Taggart, extreme sports, skateboarding. Does Ty Taggart have what it takes to win the state skating tournament? Expert analysis: Ty has the talent to take first place, but lately he’s been skating angry. His temper is getting him into trouble and making him miss easy tricks. If Ty wants to win, he’ll have to keep his cool, or his red-hot temper will put his first place hopes on ice.

Review: When I saw that there was a reading level (1.9 with a guided reading level of K) printed on the back cover, I inwardly groaned. Not another comic geared just at improving reluctant readers! However, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the story and the art. The extra features are styled as website reports, explaining at the beginning who the main characters are, providing a skateboard glossary and discussion questions at the end. Bold colors and lines make the drawings sizzle and capture the action. The storyline, in which the young Ty is grappling with the death of his older brother and Edwin, his brother’s best friend and a fellow soldier, helps him deal with his feelings on and off the board, was interesting. It’s a short book (49 pages) but one that older kids, especially boys, will not be ashamed to borrow and one that doesn’t talk down to the reader. Although the “reading level” is for grade 2, the target audience is more like grade 4 and up. There’s no objectionable content to prevent a grade 2 student from reading it, but just remember not to alienate the focus group by marketing it too young.

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

Order from www.tinlids.ca today!

'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.

Lost and Found Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan

Details: Hardcover, colour illustrations. ISBN 9780545229241

Grade 6-adult

Summary (from the inside cover): A girl finds a bright spot in a dark world. A boy leads a strange, lost creature home. And a group of peaceful creatures cedes their home to cruel invaders. Shaun Tan, with his understated voice and brilliant draftsmanship, has proved that he has a unique imaginative window to our souls, and an unparalleled ability to share that opening with pictures and narratives that are as unexpected as they are deeply true. Originally published in Australia, these three beloved and acclaimed tales were never widely available in the U.S. Now for the first time, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and the John Marsden classic The Rabbits are presented in their entirety with additional new artwork and authors' notes. Together they tell a tale that will leave no reader unmoved, about how we lose and find what matters most to us.

Review: As soon as I picked this book up, my hand started moving up and down the exquisitely designed cover. The title is perfectly placed and the embossed words and illustration just beg to be touched. The image on the cover is the “thing” from The Lost Thing, one of the three stories in this collection. This is the story that Shaun Tan won an Oscar for last week (for Best Short Film Animated). Open the book and you’ll find gorgeous little pencil drawings on the end pages. And of course that’s just the beginning. Shaun Tan is such a genius with words and images. His first sentence “sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to” is accompanied by an illustration of a girl sitting up in bed staring at her bedspread. It’s like looking through a window at first, but then as the illustrations change, you feel like you’re right there with her. This story is about depression and hope, and unexpected things that sometimes seem to happen or appear out of nowhere.

The second story “The Lost Thing” is about this guy who finds this huge thing that seems to be lost. He feels sorry for it, so he takes it home, but eventually he has to take it somewhere else, because his parents don’t want it in their home. I was struck by how much compassion I actually felt for this object – like it was human. More proof of the author’s incredible talent.

The final story “The Rabbits” is about the conflict between two cultures and what happens when one culture takes over. Again the sparse text and powerful illustrations really capture the emotions and allow the reader to make their own connections and conclusions. These three stories contain so many timeless themes: depression, alienation, belonging, peace, culture, political issues, justice, environment and hope. I highly recommend this for grades 6 to adult.

I can’t wait to see what Shaun Tan does next!

Maria Martella is the owner of Tinlids Inc

To order www.tinlids.ca

Lost and Found ISBN 9780545229241

The Arrival ISBN 9780439895293

Tales from Outer Suburbia ISBN 9780771084027