Graphic Novels in Libraries Month

My husband calls them comics on steroids. Hard covers and page count aren’t their only difference from the comic books I devoured as a child. Graphic novels (the term includes nonfiction in a similar format) often treat more serious themes and target an older audience. They’re started to gain acceptance as a literary form. A publication of the American Library Association in 2019 designated July as Graphic Novels in Libraries Month.

I might never have read a graphic novel if my book group hadn’t chosen Darrin Bell’s The Talk for this month. The biracial Pulitzer-Prize-winning editorial cartoonist begins his graphic memoir at age six, when his mother explains why he can’t have a squirt gun that looks like a real one. By the end, the adult Bell struggles with how to talk with his own six-year-old son.

Critics of graphic novels for students note their limited vocabulary and simple sentence structure. But for me, The Talk was deep, intricate, and thought-provoking. It took me inside a school kid’s shame at having been questioned by police, and his embarrassment when his white mother makes a scene about a racist incident. Bell’s character arc is compelling. Students who are regular readers may, like me, find it enriching to infer complex emotions from a blend of visuals and text. Students who read only graphic novels might otherwise not read at all.