USATODAY.com – Teachers are getting graphic is a great article on how librarians and teachers are embracing the graphic novel format to reach kids, especially boys, who are reluctant readers.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization that defends the First Amendment rights of comic book readers. The site offers news, feature articles, and information on conventions.

USATODAY.com – ‘Nancy Drew’ finds clues in graphic novel is an article about the newest version of Nancy Drew: manga style! Our library purchased the first one in both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew graphic novel series to see how they will circ. I do wonder if they will lead kids to the old novels, if a completely different group of graphic-novel-reading kids will enjoy them, or if they will simply be ignored and not really work as a cross over. We will see!

I have started reading some graphic novels. The last ones I had read were my brother’s collection of Batman, X-Men and other super heroes. I have found that manga can be a very mixed bag. Some of the books I found very confusing with the storylines jumbled and unclear. But I have found some other manga that I really enjoyed, including the Oh, My Goddess series and Mars series. In fact, I am interested enough to continue to read both series.
I still have quite a pile of other graphic novels to read through. I will post more of my favorites as I read on!

Komikwerks, a great comic and graphic novel site, is now offering previews of iBooks graphic novels. They include a couple for younger readers the Amelia Rules books and Penguins on Ice.

Cognitive Dissonance offers a nice blog entry on Marvel’s group of teenage super heroes. This is definitely a list for those of us building graphic novel collections to consider.

The Portland Press Herald has an article covering the two sides of the manga in libraries debate: Racy fluff or reading aid? Make sure you scroll down to the bottom to read at least some of the over 100 responses to the article by manga fans. Many of them demonstrate the intelligence and quality writing of manga readers.

The Galveston County Daily News has a nice article about manga in the U.S. The writer obviously understands manga and its appeal, remarking on its sophisticated storylines and art. Nice to see an article that understands manga rather than questions it.