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2008 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2008 Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The list of 43 titles, drawn from 138 official nominations, is presented annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The books, recommended for those ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens.
In addition, the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Committee created a Top Ten list of titles that exemplify the quality and range of graphic novels appropriate for teen audiences.
Click here to see the complete list.
 AFTER SCHOOL NIGHTMARE
Setona Mizushiro
Go!Comi
200 pages each
Like most teenagers, Mashiro Ichijo has a secret. But Mashiro’s secret is that he’s neither fully male nor female! So far, Mashiro has been able to live his life as a boy, but all this changes when he’s informed of a new class he must take in order to graduate from his elite prep school. To pass, he must find the “Key” --- and the only way to find it is to enter into a nightmare world where his body and soul are put at the mercy of the worst kind of enemies: his classmates!
Volume 1
ISBN: 9781933617169
October 2006
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Volume 2
ISBN: 9781933617176
December 2006
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Volume 3
ISBN: 9781933617244
April 2007
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Volume 4
ISBN: 9781933617336
June 2007
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Volume 5
ISBN: 9781933617473
October 2007
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 THE ARRIVAL
Shaun Tan
Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic
ISBN: 9780439895293
128 pages
October 2007
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In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He's embarking on the most painful yet important journey of his life --- he's leaving home to build a better future for his family. Shaun Tan evokes universal aspects of an immigrant's experience through a singular work of the imagination. He does so using brilliantly clear and mesmerizing images. Because the main character can't communicate in words, the book forgoes them too. But while the reader experiences the main character's isolation, he also shares his ultimate joy.
 BLUE BEETLE
Keith Giffen
DC Comics
Tearing its way through the events of DAY OF VENGEANCE and INFINITE CRISIS, the mystical Blue Beetle scarab has chosen its new guardian: teenager Jaime Reyes! But supernatural powers can be a blessing or a curse, and when it comes to the powers of the Scarab, you don't get one without the other.
Volume 1: Shellshocked
ISBN: 9781401209650
139 pages
December 2006
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Volume 2: Road Trip
ISBN: 9781401213619
144 pages
June 2007
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 EMMA
Kaoru Mori
CMX
Meticulously researched and beautifully rendered, EMMA is a beloved, award-winning series that was adapted into an acclaimed anime series in Japan. In Victorian-era England, a young girl is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid. Emma meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, and immediately falls in love with him. William shares her feelings, but the strict rules of their society prevent their relationship from ever coming out in the open. Traditional class distinctions and rich, historical details provide the backdrop for this appealing romance.
Volume 1
ISBN: 9781401211325
192 pages
September 2006
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Volume 2
ISBN: 9781401211332
200 pages
December 2006
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Volume 3
ISBN: 9781401211349
192 pages
March 2007
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Volume 4
ISBN: 9781401211356
192 pages
June 2007
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Volume 5
ISBN: 9781401211363
192 pages
September 2007
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 KING OF THORN
Yuji Iwahara
TOKYOPOP
Kasumi and her sister, Shizuku, were infected with the Medusa virus, which slowly eats away at the body. There is no cure, but of the two only Kasumi is selected to go into a cryogenically frozen state along with 159 others until a cure is found. In the undetermined future, Kasumi awakens to find herself and others, who were in suspended animation in an unfamiliar world with bloodthirsty monsters. Kasumi struggles to survive in a treacherous world in order to unlock its mysteries and learn the fate of her twin sister.
Volume 1
ISBN: 9781598162356
192 pages
June 2007
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Volume 2
ISBN: 9781598162363
208 pages
October 2007
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 LAIKA
Nick Abadzis
First Second
ISBN: 9781596431010
208 pages
September 2007
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Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth's first space traveler. This is her journey. Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives. Along with Laika, there is Korolev, once a political prisoner, now a driven engineer at the top of the Soviet space program, and Yelena, the lab technician responsible for Laika's health and life.
 THE MAGICAL LIFE OF LONG TACK SAM
Ann Marie Fleming
Riverhead Trade
ISBN: 9781594482649
176 pages
September 2007
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Who was Long Tack Sam? He was born in 1885. He ran away from Shangdung Province to join the circus. He was an acrobat. A magician. A comic. An impresario. A restaurateur. A theater owner. A world traveler. An East-West ambassador. A mentor to Orson Welles. He was considered the greatest act in the history of vaudeville.
In this gorgeous graphic memoir, his great-granddaughter, the artist and filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming, resurrects his fascinating life for the rest of the world. It's an exhilarating testament to a forgotten man. And every picture is true.
 RE-GIFTERS
Mike Carey, Marc Hempel and Sonny Liew
Minx/DC
ISBN: 9781401203719
174 pages
June 2007
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Meet Jen Dik Seong --- or "Dixie" as she's known to her friends. Korean American, dirt poor and living on the ragged edge of LA's Koreatown, Dixie's only outlet is the ancient martial art of hapkido. In fact, she's on the verge of winning a championship --- until she falls for fellow hapkido fan/California surfer boy Adam and gets thrown spectacularly off her game. As she struggles to win the tournament --- not to mention Adam's affections --- Dixie learns that in love and in gift-giving, what goes around comes around.
 SIDESCROLLERS
Matthew Loux
Oni Press
ISBN: 9781932664508
216 pages
October 2006
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Brian, Brad and Matt are best described as lovable perpetual losers. They're good guys who just lack direction and are all too happy to be enjoying that lazy time after high school. Their favorite thing to do in life is to play video games, eat junk food and kick around the suburban town they live in. All of this tranquil laziness is interrupted when Brian, Brad and Matt discover that the new girl Amber (of whom Matt is sweet on) is going to that night's big local rock show with Richard, the bully football jock. Determined to steer her away from Richard, the boys are launched off of their lazy rears and forced into a grand adventure. Chased by an irate football team, a vengeful troop of Girl Scouts and a stalking evil cat that may actually be possessed by Satan, our heroes are thrust into a giant rock 'n' roll videogame adventure.
THE WALL: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
written and illustrated by Peter Sis
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN: 9780374347017
Ages 8-up
56 pages
August 2007
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Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps and dreamscapes, Peter Sís shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Sís learned about beat poetry, rock ’n’ roll, blue jeans and Coca-Cola. He let his hair grow long, secretly read banned books and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968, and for a teenager who wanted to see the world and meet the Beatles, this was a magical time. It was short-lived, however, brought to a sudden and brutal end by the Soviet-led invasion.
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