<< Back 10/9/02 Library hosts Graphic Novel Festival By Scott McLeod Lori Special knows exactly when they quit coming to the library. “Once they reach middle school, we lose them. Kids that age just don’t come to the library,” said Special, head of the Youth Services Department at the Haywood County Library. To help remedy the movement to television and video games and away from reading, the Haywood County Library is holding the Festival of the Graphic Novel during Teen Read Week (Oct. 13-19). Graphic novels come in many forms, but basically they are full-length books with artwork on every page. They look like comic books but the story lines are much more involved and detailed. The genre has evolved over the years into a wide variety of formats and story lines. The books run the gamut from action/adventure stories to autobiographies, historical fiction, horror, sports and super-hero. According to Special, the genre has particular appeal for that hard-to-reach age group — boys between 13 and 18 years of age. As librarians have tried to reach this group, they have found that graphic novels work. The American Library Association’s annual list of popular paperbacks for young adults now contains a separate section for graphic novels. The appeal of this highly artistic form reflects today’s society, said Special. “Some of these books have graphics similar to what you see in computer games and videos. It appeals to young males, and so using it to keep them reading makes sense,” she said. Many popular movies — “The Matrix” and “Road to Perdition,” for example — were adapted from graphic novels. The form was popularized in Japan, and many of today’s best-known graphic novels are translations from Japanese authors such as Stan Sakai (an Eisner Award winner) and Makoto Kobyashi. The term was coined by comics pioneer Will Eisner, who recognized that teens will gravitate toward books that also have a heavy visual appeal. The August 2002 edition of the School Library Journal does encourage parents and librarians to be careful in choosing which graphic novels their teens will read. Like all art forms, some contain more mature themes and graphic depictions. However, the magazine also reports that circulation among teens will soar once they realize that the library has a decent collection of graphic novels. For more information about Teen Read Week and graphic novels, visit www.ala.org/teenread/trw.