Posted in fiction, graphic novels

I spy Graphic Novels for Children

Check these cool graphic novel books out!

Middle school is a dungeon… At least, that’s how Jess sees it.

Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little kid games of make-believe, and more recently with the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. When they play, Olivia runs the game as Dungeon Master and Jess is the solo party member, playing a take-no-prisoners, lone-wolf fighter of her own design named Sir Corius.

But when Olivia wants to add new players to their group, Jess finds herself struggling to share their game—and her best friend. Will their epic campaign withstand all this change, or has their adventure—and their friendship—finally come to an end?

Meet Bigfoot and Nessie! Yes, that Bigfoot and Nessie. Only…Well, things are a little complicated right now.

Bigfoot is having trouble fitting in with his family. He can never quite manage to get himself into the picture, much to the disappointment of his mom, dad, and sister, who always want to be in the spotlight. When he meets Nessie, who’s equally desperate to get away from the cameras, he begins to ask himself the ultimate question: What’s the price of fame after all?

Blue is an orphan who disguises herself as a newsboy. There’s a war going on, and girls are expected to help the struggling economy by selling cookies. But Blue loves living and working at the Bugle, the only paper in town that tells the truth. And what’s printed in the newspapers now matters more than ever.But Blue struggles with her secret, and worries that if her friends and adopted family at the Bugle find out that she’s a girl, she’ll lose everything and everyone she cares about. And when she meets and befriends Crow, a boy who is also not what he seems, together they seek the freedom to be their true selves… and to save each other.

The fight for freedom and truth continues in Ru Xu’s thrilling sequel to NewsPrints!Blue arrives in the capital city of Altalus, where she is determined to find her friend Crow, the boy who was created to be a flying war machine, and Jack, the engineer who built him. But soon she is inadvertently kidnapped by Snow and Red, twins from the enemy side of their ten-year war. They set off on a dangerous adventure that brings them to the front lines of the war, and eventually realize that they must work together to help end it. But with larger, more powerful forces at work, the fight for peace — and survival — will be more difficult than they ever imagined.

Posted in adventure, fiction, youth

Fiction Youth Books

Check these youth fiction books out for ages of 8 to 12!  If you are looking for something unique for gifts, for your kids, or because you are a teacher or librarian, these would be great!  I have seen these books across my work desk and let me tell you the covers in person are stunning.  I just had to spread the word about these books.

GhostSQ

  • Age Range: 8 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 3 – 7
  • Lexile Measure: 810L
  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Scholastic Press
  • Date:  April 7, 2020
  • Author: Claribel A. Ortega

For Lucely Luna, ghosts are more than just the family business.

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd’s witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely’s firefly spirits before it’s too late.

 

Bug
Graphic Novel

  • Age Range: 7 – 10 years
  • Grade Level: 2 – 5
  • Series: Bug Boys (Book 1)
  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Graphic; Illustrated edition
  • Date: February 11, 2020
  • Author: Laura Knetzger

Rhino-B is a brash, but sweet guy. Stag-B is a calm and scholarly adventurer. Together these two young beetles make up the Bug Boys, best friends who spend their time exploring the world of Bug Village and beyond, as well as their own – sometimes confusing and complicated – thoughts and feelings.

In their first adventure, the Bug Boys travel through spooky caves, work with a spider to found a library, save their town’s popular honey supply from extinction, and even make friends with ferocious termites!

What challenges will these two earnest beetles face? Whatever it is, you can be sure that Rhino-B and Stag-B will face it together — with the power of friendship behind them.

 

 

When
Graphic Novel

 

  • Age Range: 9 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 4 – 7
  • Paperback: 264 pages
  • Publisher: Dial Books
  • Date:  April 14, 2020
  • Author: Victoria Jamieson

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.

Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings. It’s an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to New York Times Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story.

 

Twilight

  • Age Range: 8 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 3 – 7
  • Series: Enchanter’s Child (Book 1)
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; Illustrated edition
  • Date: March 31, 2020
  • Author:  Angie Sage

Alex has a set of Enchanted cards. When she flutters her fingers above them, something magical happens: the cards come alive and create moving pictures of what is now and what is yet to come. But Enchantment is illegal in the city of Luma, and those who practice it are imprisoned forever in the Vaults—dark dungeons deep below the city.

When Alex is betrayed by her foster sister Zerra, she knows she is in great danger. With the help of her little foster brother, Louie, she makes a daring escape.

But Alex discovers she is not safe outside Luma either. Here lurk deadly Hauntings that seek out those who practice magic: Enchanters and their children. The Hauntings take many forms and Alex is hunted by a giant bird of prey, the Hawke, a murderous Night Wraith called the Grey Walker, and the eerie Xin.

But why do the Hauntings haunt Alex?

Alex doesn’t believe she’s an Enchanter’s Child, but she has no idea who her parents are. Her precious Enchanted cards are her only clue to her true identity, and she becomes determined to find out who she is. And, while she is at it, to get rid of the deadly Twilight Hauntings forever.

 

If I was a kid again, I  would probably read Ghost Squad and Twilight Hauntings.
Which one would you read if you were a kid again?