Our middle grade book spotlight this week is all about graphic novels!!! Graphic novels are amazing in that they are so visual allowing you to not only read the story but to see it as well! I love graphic novels because they offer something for everyone; there are fiction titles as well as nonfiction and even written story retellings. If you are looking to try something new this year or you have been reading graphic novels for years, we have some amazing selections for you (and we are always getting new titles in!)--everything from sports to historical mysteries and creepy horror. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthgreatgraphicnovels as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new Middle Grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
The Breakaways by Cathy Johnson--Faith starts middle school worried about how she will fit in. Surprisingly, a popular eighth-grader convinces Faith to join the soccer team--a sport she's never played. She lands on the pretty terrible C team and discovers a group of misfits better at drama than soccer. But they slowly develop an uneasy bond and teach each other about loyalty, identity, friendship, and teamwork.
Positively Izzy by Terri Libenson--The school talent show brings Izzy and Bri together in an unexpected, dramatic way.
Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell-- A graphic novel that features neighborhood children transforming regular cardboard boxes into imaginative playthings and costumes.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman--Young Coraline discovers a mysterious secret door that takes her into an alternate reality. Here she meets her “other” parents, who are very nice and pay attention to her, unlike her real parents. Feeling suspicious, she returns home to discover that her real parents were kidnapped by her other parents.
Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis--Queen Eleanor comes to twelve-year-old Margaret's peaceful island in exile after her sister takes over the throne. Young, orphaned Margaret has spent her life quietly living with the nuns who inhabit the island. But Eleanor's arrival along with that of a young man named William brings an end to the peace of the island as Eleanor schemes to reclaim the throne.
The Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown--Traces the impact and effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans from August of 2005 up through 2012, by which time “only 80 percent of New Orleans' residents had returned.”