Artful Solutions: Middle Grade and YA Graphic Novels

Drawing from real-life situations that kids may face, the graphic novels of this panel combine art and words to tell meaningful stories. In Marshmallow & Jordan,Alina Chau depicts a young basketball player’s experience after an accident leaves her paralyzed from the waist down, whose encounter with a mysterious elephant helps her discover a brand new sport. It can be hard to feel different from our friends, but Maia Kobabe and Swati “Lucky” Srikumar’s Opting Out, a middle grade graphic novel about a kid who just isn’t interested in any of that boy/girl stuff or the way their body is changing, shows us how we can find our own options and create our own stories. For teenagers Franny and Sam in As I Dream of You,illustrated by LeUyen Pham, the reality of love feels completely different from the tales of heartbreak and loss they have come to understand, but their quest to stay together soon takes a supernatural twist after they see their relationship as something that could possibly conquer death. In the autobiographical Armaveni: A Graphic Novel of the Armenian Genocide, Nadine Takvorian chronicles her quest to uncover her family’s history during the Armenian genocide through interwoven historical, contemporary, and fantastical sequences. Perfect for middle and high schoolers, educators, and parents, this panel moderated by librarian Elaine Tai will showcase the rich diversity of the graphic novel genre.