Wednesday Roundup: Graphic Novel Newbery Contenders
Steven: In this year’s Wednesday Roundups we’re looking backwards before we look forwards: reviewing some of the past Newbery winners in the category. With Graphic Novels, that’s not too daunting…we’ve only got four, all within the past decade:
- EL DEAFO by Cece Bell (2015 Honor)
- ROLLER GIRL by Victoria Jamieson (2016 Honor)
- NEW KID by Jerry Craft (2020 Medal)
- MEXIKID by Pedro Martin (2024 Honor)
Are there any standouts from these four, Emily?
Emily: ROLLER GIRL is one of my top books to recommend, favorite Newbery winners of all time and something I will forever cry about not winning the medal. I just love the storytelling so much (I think I’m all about storytelling this year) and think the characterization is conveyed amazingly.
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Steven: I was very pleased with MEXIKID’s honor award last year. As you mentioned with ROLLER GIRL, storytelling and characterization were key. And I would add the author’s voice (“appropriateness of style” in Newbery terms). We get to know Pedro by what he says and does, but also by the way he says it.
Emily: I actually went a while without even touching a physical copy of NEW KID (which is currently leading the genre poll by a landslide). I just listened to the audiobook. I really like listening to graphic novel audiobooks because I feel like it helps me totally separate from the images (because I can’t see them).
Steven: I’ve never listened to a graphic novel audiobook. I should…I can see how it’s a great way to focus on the words, so very useful in Newbery world. But I just can’t do it…I want to see the pictures. Maybe I should try that for a second read though…
I think the graphic novel format, combined with the creativity of the writers, has kind of forced Newbery committees (and Mock Newbery folks like us) to look beyond the printed words as the only element of “text.” We can look more at the construction of the whole thing, even if both words and pictures are working together
Emily: I think something that has been proved in recent years is that it’s really possible for a Newbery title to master all six criteria. The criteria question that sends people in circles though is if the presentation/ images make the book “less effective” etc. etc. “Each book is to be considered as a contribution to American literature. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the text. Other components of a book, such as illustrations, overall design of the book, etc., may be considered when they make the book less effective.”
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STEVEN:. So the chapter openings in NEW KID are clever take-offs on movies and tv shows. Except for the titles (“Upper, Upper West Side Story’….), the spreads are wordless. So we might think: “illustrations only, we’re doing “primarily on the text,” so no Newbery qualities on this page. But we can look at the concept behind that visual image as textual. The artist drew the pictures, but the author decided how it should be: five kids pretending to be tough on the street in “Straight Outta South Uptown,” and be sure to put that sock puppet in there). In NEW KID, the author and illustrator are the same, which makes it a little easier to give the author textual credit for visual images. In fact, all four of the graphic novel Newbery titles are author/illustrators. I wonder if that makes it a little easier to give an author’s award to a gn?
Emily: Let’s take it to this year now. I’ll be honest there’s not a graphic novel I’m totally feeling… I didn’t like PLAIN JANE on my first read, but when I looked again, I was more impressed with the character development of the main and secondary characters. I suggested ASH’S CABIN, each which had really good development of setting (yes both thru words and images) although the plots skews high on the age range.
Steven: I’ve read several fine Graphic Novels this year. I thought NEXT STOP and CONTINENTAL DRIFTER were pretty strong…but only two so far that I think are potential Newbery contenders: PLAIN JANE AND THE MERMAIDS and HOW IT ALL ENDS (maybe more of a long shot).
Emily: I hope our readers will give us more insight on this year’s graphic novels.. HELP US PLEASE!! Also remember you can still answer our genre poll and that next week’s Wednesday Round-Up is books in verse, where I think we’ll have a lot to talk about…
Heavy Medal Graphic Novel Suggestions (Through August)
ASH’S CABIN- Wang
HOW IT ALL ENDS- Hunsinger
CONTINENTAL DRIFTER- MacLeod
THE GIRL WHO SANG- Nadel (nonfiction)
PLAIN JANE AND THE MERMAID- Brosgol
Filed under: Book Discussion
About Emily Mroczek-Bayci
Emily Mroczek (Bayci) is a freelance children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. She served on the 2019 Newbery committee. You can reach her at emilyrmroczek@gmail.com.
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Here’s what I wrote in my Goodreads review about THE GIRL WHO SANG:
Now, does the text stand alone as being distinctive/Newbery ish? Honestly, I don’t think so. I don’t think we learned enough about Estelle’s want to sing in the early pages. In fact, until about 1/2-3/4 of the way through the story, I was confused about why it was called The Girl Who Sang. That “theme” didn’t come up until much later in the story.
So I just read ASH’S CABIN. It’s really good. I read it all today. I think a 12-14 year old could read and appreciate it. It does a great job with the setting – basically the whole middle of the book is the setting, and hopefully the author made sure the fish and plants she wrote about/drew are specific to that part of California. I thought it worked decently well as a graphic novel with text probably playing a bigger role than the illustrations. I thought there were a couple of plot problems – Ash found the cabin super easily, and I thought more of the book was going to be about finding it. I also didn’t feel like there was a lot about climate change as the book advertised. Most of the book was about surviving in the wilderness. There was a bit at the beginning and a bit at the end.
I think PLAIN JANE AND THE MERMAID excels in “development of a plot” and “delineation of characters,” but it’s “interpretation of theme or concept” that really got me thinking about this as a Newbery contender. The main theme seems to be questioning why beauty should be a measure of worth. And it’s front and center from the beginning with main character’s name and even the title. But though it’s always a part of things, it’s not heavy-handed. And we see the beauty theme affecting characters in different ways. Jane’s own development of course, but also the mermaid sisters who find happiness once they recognize that beauty isn’t everything. And Peter, who always just accepted the beauty = goodness because it was easy and made things nice for him, but gradually comes around. It’s a natural theme for a fairy tale-like book, but developed carefully and in a very satisfying way.
ASH’S CABIN was heavy on the theme of outdoor exploration. The modern GN reminded me of HATCHET and MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. It touched of student issues of bullying, environmental advocacy, pronoun identification and family dynamics before heading into Ash’s great escape. Although there were some holes in the story for me, I did like it and recommend it for YA libraries fore readers 14+, just outside the Newbery range.
PLAIN JANE AND THE MERMAID was a better fit in the Newbery age range for “appropriateness of style.” The characters were distinct and there was a strong delineation of characters. I felt that author/illustrator did a great job of portraying different value systems in the worlds created. Jane felt a little like a character from a Jane Austen book with family attachment issues, marriage for security and one-sided love. Vanity was the true villain in the story that had the reader considering beauty bias. Jane brings that bias as a revelation in her story and when speaking in the 3rd person Jane says: “She’s started to convince herself what’s on the outside doesn’t matter… but that’s not true is it? It matters because everyone agreed it matters” (p.305) The colorist of this book also did a great job and I do recommend the book highly. So much of the small important details of this book are visual. For example, the plot and tone of the book is set with a mermaid sequence where she finds a wrinkle and has a big upset reaction to aging. There are no words here. For this reason, I think this book misses some important Newbery rubrics.
THE GIRL WHO SANG hits the age, and the text pairs with the images so that you can read the story aloud (or listen to an audiobook) and hit all the rubrics. Also, it is a great book that I recommend for library circulation. I have read many fiction and nonfiction books about WWII and the Holocaust. THE GIRL WHO SANG is beautiful and meaningful; I just felt there are other titles (particularly in the historical fiction category) that edged it out of the top 5 for me this year.
2024 was an excellent year for the format of Graphic Novels. They are essential bridges to literacy for readers of all ages, and I am a huge fan. Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Pedro Martin when he came to my school. MEXIKID was a tribute to his grandfather and family, and he put his heart into honoring his personal story using his gifts of drawing and unique voice. Dan Santat achieved that with A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING (National Book Award), as did Thien Pham in FAMILY STYLE (Eisner Award.) So far, a GN hasn’t risen to the top for me this year like those did in 2024. Like NEW KID, if a graphic novel rises with excellence in uniqueness and adherence to the Newbery rubric… I will be one of the readers celebrating.
Weirdo by Tony Weaver Jr. is also really great. There hasn’t been much talk about it, but it was a great middle-grade graphic novel memoir.
Quade’s comment that “So much of the small important details of this book are visual” in PLAIN JANE is a good one. For me that’s exactly the struggle we can face with graphic novels. The best author/illustrators (like Vera Brosgol) blend words and pictures so deftly that it’s hard to identify where “the text of the book” ends and “other components of a book, such as illustrations” begins (quotes from the Newbery Terms and Criteria). This book is so successful and complete, though, I’m going to keep trying to look at it Newbery terms (keeping MEXIKID’s recent Honor in mind).