Graphic Novel

Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War

Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his schoolyard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a soldier for a brutal rebel militia. Against the odds, Michel managed to escape and find his way back to his family, but he was never the same again. After immigrating to Canada, Michel was encouraged by a teacher to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world, and this book is part of that effort.

Comic Adventures Of Boots

Three hilarious stories are told in graphic style in this book destined for multiple readings. The first episode finds the charismatic Boots without a place to nap on his usual wall. A bit of ingenuity and some fish biscuits are all he needs to get some room, though his scheme is certain to backfire. The second chapter has Boots enlisting the duck Madam Quark for swimming and flying lessons, with dubious results. And the pièce de résistance comes last in probably the most hilarious game of charades ever played by cats.

Red Rock: A Graphic Fable

Old Beaver’s idyllic valley, where he built so many dams, is under threat from developers of a luxury hotel. When bulldozers and steam shovels arrive, he and his friends organize in what looks like an uphill battle. Meanwhile, a little girl who loves nature hears about the hotel and joins the fight. Can they succeed? Old Beaver’s mysterious dream about the red rock offers unexpected hope.

The Other Side Of the Wall

Simon Schwartz was born in 1982 in East Germany, at a time when the repressive Socialist Unity Party of Germany controlled the area. Shortly before Simon’s birth, his parents decided to leave their home in search of greater freedoms on the other side of the Berlin Wall. But East German authorities did not allow the Schwartzes to leave for almost three years. In the meantime, Simon’s parents struggled with the costs of their decision: the loss of work, the attention of the East German secret police and the fragmentation of their family.

The Castaways

The first graphic novel by the best-selling team of “Bluesman.” An emotionally powerful tale, drawn from the fabric of America itself, that follows the adventures of young Tucker Freeman as he is compelled to hop a train to escape from the crippling poverty of his rural existence. Armed with only fifteen cents and his occasional hobo father’s counsel, Tucker must find his place in this broken America of the Great Depression before the realities of being young, poor and homeless consume him. This new NBM/ComicsLit edition features a six-page conclusion/epilogue not feautred in the original release as well as a new two-color look, and will stand as THE defininitive edition of a book nominated for an Eisner is the Best Single Issue/One Shot category in 2002. An epic adventure recalling the works of Mark Twain, Jack London, and John Steinbeck.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VII, Issue 4

The Great And Mighty Nikko

Nikko’s mother wants him to stop jumping on his bed, but he’s not jumping on his bed, as he tried to convince her. Instead there are luchadors, masked wrestlers, trying to fight him one at a time. In the end, of course, Nikko is the winner: the great and mightly Nikko!

Les Miserables

Travel back to nineteenth-century France with ex-convict Jean Valjean as he tries to put his criminal past behind him and his fate intertwines with the ruthless Inspector Javert, determined to put Valjean back behind bars; the poor factory worker Fantine, whose struggle to provide for her child leads to her death; her orphaned daughter, Cosette, whom Valjean saves from poverty and neglect; and Cosette’s besotted suitor, Marius. As a revolution sweeps through Paris, can Valjean elude Javert and secure a happy life for Cosette before all is lost? Follow their story in Marcia Williams’s entertaining and easily digestible retelling for young readers.

Ares

The myth continues in the tenth year of the fabled Trojan War where two infamous gods of war go to battle. The spotlight is thrown on Ares, god of war, and primarily focuses on his battle with the clever and powerful Athena. As the battle culminates and the gods try to one-up each other to win, the human death toll mounts. Who will win this epic clash of power? And how many will have to die first?

Macbeth

Set against the moody backdrop of eleventh-century Scotland, Gareth Hinds’s captivating, richly illustrated interpretation takes readers into the claustrophobic mind of a man driven mad by ambition. An evil seed takes root in the mind of Macbeth, a general in the king’s army, when three witches tell him he will one day be king. At the urging of his wife, he resolves to take the throne by the most direct path: a dagger in the heart of King Duncan.