September Roundup and Banned Book Week Ideas

It’s nearing the end
of September, which means Banned Books Week is right around the corner on
October 1-7, 2023. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for library
professionals as censorship makes waves in libraries across the country. To get
into the spirit of Banned Books Week, we would like to share the American
Library Association’s resources, including the Top 10
Most Challenged Books, Censorship
by the Numbers in the United States, as well as Banned
Books Week Display Ideas and other
resources. Fittingly, Maia Kobabe, whose graphic novel graces the number one spot
on the Most Challenged Books List, has penned a comic ‘I Made
the Most Banned Book in America’ which was published this month and
details how libraries are championing the right to accessing information.

However, this is not
an isolated problem in the United States. We have already written about the
Australian Classification Board’s decision to classify Garth Ennis and Darick
Robertson’s The Boys comic book series and it will be interesting to see what
kind of a ripple effect this decision has on graphic novels and comics in our
libraries. In fact, out of
the 15 publications that have been referred to the Australian Classification
Board this year, 12 of them are graphic novels, with the remaining
books being a format that would not be collected by libraries.

While we don’t know
what the future holds for the censorship of graphic novels and comics in Australia,
it can be fun to get involved in Banned Books Week and learn more about what
books are being challenged and why. 

News

• The Excellence in Graphic
  Literature Awards have been announced and are worth checking out. We’re
  also happy to see that Melbourne based writer and artist Sas Milledge’s
  Mamo has won the Best in Children’s Fiction Graphic Literature Award.
  Congratulations to all the winners and especially Sas Milledge! You can see the winners here.
• The Ringo Awards were
  announced at the start of the month. Congratulations to the Comics2Movies
  team. Fractured Shards was nominated for Best Series together with Saga,
  Something Is Killing the Children and others. Fractured Shards didn’t win
  but what a great recognition! And congratulations to all the winners. You can see the full list of nominees and winners
  here. 
• Maia Kobabe has published a great
  comic on The Nib about publishing the most banned book in the USA, the
  support from libraries and the current state of challenges and bans. You can read the comic here.
• Daniel Clowes’ new graphic
  novel Monica is looming. The New Yorker caught up with Daniel and had a
  great chat about the influences in this new book. A really interesting conversation you can find here.
• A really interesting new
  initiative in the UK has caught our attention. A new group, calling
  themselves The Comics Cultural Impact Collective, has been created in the
  UK with the aim of raising awareness of the cultural impact and importance
  of comics. All their information and initial research can be
  found here.
• You want to be or you know
  someone who wants to be a comic book artist? Think again. Popverse was at
  San Diego Comic Con where Tom Taylor and Tom King asked questions of
  Nicola Scott and Mitch Gerads who talked about what it’s like drawing art
  for comics. You can read the lowdown here.

Collections

• No Flying No Tights has
  published another of their great thematic lists. This time they compiled a
  list of graphic novels for kids that are adaptations of books. You can find the list here.
• School Library Journal has
  published a list of visual books (it includes pictures books and graphic
  novels) that show the power of visuals convey complex emotions. You can see the list here.

Podcasts/Media

• Tom Taylor was interviewed
  on ABC Radio about Neverlanders winning the CBCA Book of the Year for
  Older Readers Award, and the awesomeness of comics. You can listen to the interview here.

NEW TITLES

 Junior

• 8 Tiny Reindeer by Robert Tinkler (Kids Can Press)

• Adventuregame Comics Book 2: The Beyond by Jason Shiga (Abrams – Amulet Books)

• Captain Marvel: Game On by Sam Maggs, Sweeney Boo, Mario del Pennino (Marvel Comics)

• Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust by Neal Shusterman & Andrew Vera Martinez (Scholastic)

• Evil Emperor Penguin: The World Will Be Mine! By Laura Ellen Anderson (David Fickling Books)

• Four Eyes by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza (Scholastic)

• Hooky Volume 3 by Miriam Bonastre Tur (Clarion Books)

• I Really Want to Make Lemonade! By Harriet Ziefert (Red Comet Press LLC)

• Kariba by Daniel Clark, James Clark & Daniel Snaddon (Catalyst Press)

• Lights by Brenna Thummler (Oni Press)

• No Place for Monsters: School of Phantoms by Kory Merritt (Chicken House)

• P.I. Butterfly: The Birthday Bandit by Karen Kilpatrick & German Blanco (Kayppin Media)

• Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi & Shazleen Khan (St Martin’s Press)

• Wildfire by Breena Bard (Hachette Children’s Books)

• Witches of Brooklyn: Spell of a Time by Sophie Escabasse (Random House)

• Zoo Patrol Squad: Kingdom Caper by Brett Bean (Penguin Group)

YA

• Big Bangs and Black Holes: A Graphic Novel Guide to the Universe by Herji, Jérémie Francfort (Helvetiq) 

• The Deer King Vol 1 of 2 by Nahoko Uehashi (Yen Press)

• Elle(s) Vol 2 by Kid Toussaint & Aveline Stokart (Ablaze)

• Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham (St Martins Press)

• Giant Days Volume 1 Library Edition by John Allison, Lissa Treiman & Max Sarin (Boom! Studios)

• Glitch Vol 1 by Shima Shinya (Yen Press)

• Kamen Rider Zero-One by Brandon Easton and Hendry Prasetya (Titan)

• Mexikid by Pedro Martin (Guppy Publishing)

• Not a New York Love Story by Julian Voloj, Andreas Gefe (Fairsquare Comics)

• Lights by Brenna Thummler (Oni Press)

• Talli Daughter of the Moon Vol 2 by Sourya Sihachakr (Oni Press)

• Our Stories Carried Us Here: Chasing Dreams, Becoming a Doctor by Kim Uy, Sunshine Gao (Green Card Voices)

• Sea Serpent’s Heir Book 2: Black Wave by Mairghread Scott & Pablo Tunica (Image Comics)

Adult

• Blackward by Lawrence Lindell (Drawn & Quarterly)

• But You Have Friends by Emilia McKenzie (Top Shelf)

• Cat Eyed Boy Vol 1 by Kazuo Umezz (Viz Media)

• Earthdivers Vol 1 Kill Columbus by Stephen Graham Jones, Davide Gianfelice (IDW)

• Eden II by Kenny Wroten (Fantagraphics)

• A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll (First Second)

• Memoirs of a Man in Pajamas by Paco Roca (Fantagraphics)

• Middle Distance by Mylo Choi (SelfMadeHero)

• The Naked Tree by Keum Suk, Gendry-Kim

• Of Thunder and Lightning by Kimberly Wang (Silver Sprocket)

• Okinawa by Susumu Higa (Fantagraphics)

• Roaming by Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)

• Utown by Cab, Caroline Breault (Oni Press)