Great Graphic Novels

The Ottawa Public Library is back to share some great graphic novels books with us. This month’s post is by Lise Dumas, Supervising Librarian, Children's and Teen Services at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

Ottawa Public Library (OPL) just celebrated its second annual BiblioCon on April 27, but not to worry if you missed it, it will reappear again next year, bigger and better. For all you graphic novel fans, May is the month of Free Comic Book Day and Ottawa Comiccon. Here are some of the wonderful graphic novels recommended for 9-13 year olds available at the OPL:

Newsprints by Ru Xu.

The story follows the adventures of Blue, an orphan girl who disguises herself as a newsboy so that she can work at the Bugle, the only paper in town that tells the truth about current issues. Blue makes some unusual friendships along the way in her effort to stop the senseless ongoing war.  The book features some cool robots and flying machines. The exciting conclusion of this series was recently published in 2019.

All Summer Long by Hope Larson

Thirteen-year-old Bina is looking at a boring summer ahead. Her best friend Austin is going to soccer camp, leaving Bina to find her own fun. Through trials and tribulations with her family and friends over the summer, Bina will find out a little more about who she is and what she wants in her life.

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

This book had me hooked with its great cover art. You can just feel the anguish of a first day of camp. This is the story of 9 year old Vera who feels she is too poor, too Russian and too different to ever fit in with the other American kids. Her solution to making friends is to go to an all Russian kids’ camp. The images in black, white and olive green are wonderful and you will fall in love with this spunky heroine.