A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel

Today, the new movie version of “A Christmas Carol” comes out in theaters, but why not read the book first?  We have a new graphic novel version of the book which has great art and the complete text of the original book by Charles Dickens. (FYI, our book has a black-on-black cover, but that’s pretty hard to see in a small image, so I put the color version of the cover in this post.) 

While you’re reading the classics, give “Frankenstein” or “Macbeth” a try, too!  We have them both in graphic novel format, and they’re school assignment approved, since they’re the full text of the original, not abridged.  But just in case you need it, we also have “Macbeth” in the quick text version which has quick, modern language.  If you try any of these graphic classics and think we should buy more, let me know!

Chicago Comic-Con 2009

Hey everyone! This is Tressa. I’m taking over Katie’s blog for just a moment. A couple of weeks ago I went to the Chicago Comic-Con and it was unbelievably awesome!  The whole conference floor was jammed pack with comic book collections, games, specialized toys, t-shirts…you name it, it was there!!!

The best part was seeing everyone dressed up in costumes. Before you even got into the conference area, people were walking around dressed as characters from Star Wars, Batman, Spiderman, Watchmen, etc.  Next year I am totally dressing up! 

 Another fun part was seeing some somewhat-famous celebrities:  Michelle Rodriguez (“Anna Lucia” from LOST) was there; Peter Brady from “The Brady Bunch”; Ray Park (Darth Maul), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrission) from “Star Wars”; the original Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno; …oh, and some kid named Cameron Bright who will be Alec, one of the Volturi, in the next Twilight movie. 

 Anyway, it was a ton of fun!! If you guys ever get the chance to go, it is definitely worth it!!  More pictures after the jump…

Orientation

Gunnerkrigg Court is not your average British boarding school.   Antimony Carver doesn’t just have to deal with classes and making friends at a new school, she  has to deal with robots, demons, gods, and mythical creatures running around the grounds. 

Follow Antimony as she finds a new home for her newly acquired second shadow, gets homework help from the mythical Minotaur, and tries to find out more about her mysterious new school.

Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 1: Orientation is a compilation of the first 14 chapters of the web comic of the same name.  Check it out here, then check out the book, now available at the library.

Katie

New Heroes Graphic Novel

Even if you hate this season of Villains, try and get some relief with the new Heroes graphic novel, now on library shelves.

Check out the webcomic.

Wolverine

X-men fans, don’t worry yet about all those reshoots for the new Wolverine movie.  According to Hugh Jackman’s letter to Ain’t It Cool News, “I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that WOLVERINE will be bada** and hopefully meet all of your expectations.”

Check out this pic of some of the movie’s cast, including Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed (Sabretooth), and Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson (Deadpool).

If you can’t wait until the movie comes out in May, check out Wolverine: Evolution for some of the backstory between Wolverine and Sabretooth, or try Wolverine Origins: Deadpool.  Both are at the library under YA GRAPHICNOVEL WOLVERINE.

Iron Man

       

Did anyone check out Iron Man this weekend?  Hope you stayed until after the credits!  If you need more of an Iron Man fix, check out Iron Man: Extremis, now on the shelf.  Or, try Iron Man: Execute Program, coming soon to our graphic novel shelves. 

By the way, those graphic novel shelves will soon be expanding so I can keep buying more, More, MORE!  Something you want me to buy? Comment me!

Katie

New Books

Hey out there,

In response to your suggestions, Ultimate Spiderman Vol. 15 and 16 are now available, with Vol. 17 coming soon.  Also, Batman Year One: Ra’s al Ghul is on order now.  Keep requesting books and I’ll respond!

If you ever want to know what books are coming soon to the library, just search for the series ‘on order ya’ in our online catalog.  See something you like?  You can place holds for books that are on order the same way you place a hold on a book in stock: just click ‘E-mail Request” and fill out the request form. 

Katie

On the shelf – new manga and graphic novels

Buso Renkin Vol. 1 and 2	Bleach Vol. 1 and 2	Dramacon Vol. 1 and 2
Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 2 and 3	Emily the Strange: Lost, Dark and Bored	Teen Titans: Titans Around the World

I know, I know, some of these series aren’t exactly new, but our graphic novel and manga collections are just starting out, and I’ve got to start somewhere!  Don’t see the series you want? (Especially NEW series…)  Comment me or email me with your suggestions. 

Katie

New manga

Now on the shelf, volumes one and two of…

Deathnote	Platinum Garden	Naruto

Come and get ‘em…
Katie

New manga

	Fruits Basket Vol. 1 and 2 Tohru Honda was an orphan when one day fate kicked her out of the house and on to land belonging to the mysterious Sohma family. After stumbling upon the teenage squatter, the Sohmas invite Tohru to stay in their house in exchange for cooking and cleaning. Everything goes well until she discovers the Sohma family’s secret - when hugged by members of the opposite sex, they turn into their Chinese Zodiac animal!
	Sorcerers and Secretaries Vol. 1 Nicole Hayes’ life as a student and receptionist can’t satisfy her vivid daydreams, so when when she’s alone with her notebook, she lets her imagination go.  Meanwhile, her old neighbor Josh pines after her but can’t seem to snap her out of her daydreams and get her to notice him. If only he could see what it was she was dreaming about, maybe he could finally win her over!
	Vampire Knight Vol. 1 and 2 Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students: the day class and the night class. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the guardians of the school, protecting the day class from the Academy’s dark secret: the night class is full of vampires!  Zero wants to kill the members of the night class, but Yuki is secretly fascinated by one of its members who saved her life years ago.

Don’t forget, reading manga counts toward your Summer Reading hours!
Katie

New graphic novels

Our new graphic novels are checking out like mad, so get in and grab one while you can.  Don’t forget to email or comment us with the titles you want!  Here’s a sample of what’s new:

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1
Hiromu Arakawa

As young boys, Edward & Alphonse Elric dabbled in alchemy to try to resurrect their dead mother. As a result, Ed lost one arm and one leg, while Al lost his entire body and had his spirit sealed into a suit of armor. Now, they are searching for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone to restore what they’ve lost.

The Dreaming Vol. 1
Queenie Chan

When twin sisters Amber and Jeanie are accepted into an exclusive  boarding school, they soon find that the school’s halls harbor a terrible secret: students have been known to wander into the surrounding bushlands and vanish…without a trace! No one knows where they went–or why. But as Amber and Jeanie are about to learn, the key to the school’s dark past may lie in the world of their dreams…

Enjoy!
Katie

The wait is over!

It feels like it’s been forever since we decided to add graphic novels to our collection, but the wait is finally over.  Here  are two of the books now on the shelf — wander in to the library to see what else we’ve got…

Night Fisher In his final year of high school, Loren tries to ditch his innocent image, getting sucked in to Maui’s smalltime world of drugs and petty crime.

Runaways Vol. 1 What would you do if you found out your parents were supervillains who will do whatever it takes to make sure the world doesn’t find out their secret?

Katie

Take our graphic novels survey!

The library is starting a Y.A. graphic novel collection and we want to make sure we are buying the books you want. Take our 10 question survey by clicking here.  If you don’t read graphic novels but know someone who does, send them our way! If you want to let us know your opinions about graphic novels, or want to recommend an author, artist, book or series, but don’t feel like taking the survey, please email or comment us. Katie