I’m old enough to remember a time when “comics” were frowned upon as a cheap, inferior form of literature that kids shouldn’t be wasting their time on. Most kids (including me) ignored those frowns, spending hours at the local drug store pawing through the comics rack for Little Lulu and Denis the Menace. These days, after a decades-long struggle for respectability, “graphic novels” are an accepted, even highly-regarded art form. Graphic novels for kids have long outgrown superheroes, Scrooge McDuck and Richie Rich; now they breathe new life into classic stories, explain science concepts, illustrate history, and serve as a gateway into literary fiction like The Giver and A Wrinkle…

Two recent graphic-novel adaptations of classic stories have their strengths, but overall demonstrate the adage, “the book is better.” A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson.  Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2012, 391 pages. The James Patterson blurb on the back cover praises the “colorful panels” but the first thing a reader notices is that the only actual color is blue.  It’s hard to understand this decision.  With so many pages to produce, color might have seemed too expensive, but any adaptation of a popular classic might be expected to sell itself.  Splashes of color would have been a welcome addition to certain parts of the…

New Kid offers a fresh and funny graphic-novel take on the middle-school blues. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-14 From Washington Heights to Riverdale Academy is a big leap that Jordan Banks isn’t sure he wants to make. A black kid from a middle-class neighborhood attending a fancy prep? He’d rather just go straight to art school (he’s into drawing, not basketball), but this scholarship came through and his mom is convinced it’s an opportunity too good to pass up. Dad too, though he’s not quite as gung-ho. The first day of school comes with more than the usual jitters: will there be any other students…

Krosoczka, author of the Lunch Lady graphic novels, tells his own story in Hey Kiddo, a graphic novel memoir that is by turns harsh and tender. Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Graphix, 2018. 320 pages. Reading Level: Ages 12-15 Recommended For: Ages 15 and up, with cautions His first memory of someone serving him breakfast was at his grandparents’, aged three. Before that, Jarrett fended for himself. When his teacher asks his kindergarten class to draw their families, complete with a mommy and a daddy, Jarrett blanks. That doesn’t describe his family at all. There comes a time when Jarrett doesn’t even send his mother a Mother’s Day card; he…