Teen Books, YA Graphics
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Artichoke Tales
Megan Kelso has proved herself a master of the cartoon short story with Queen of the Black Black (1998, to be republished by Fantagraphics in 2010) and Squirrel Mother (2006, currently in its second printing). With Artichoke Tales, six years in the making, Kelso expands her range (and her page count) by creating a family saga spanning three generations and an entire continent.'
Artichoke Tales is a 176-page coming-of-age story about a young girl named Brigitte whose family is caught between the two warring sides of a civil war, a graphic novel that takes place in a world that echoes our own, but whose people have artichoke leaves instead of hair. Influenced in equal parts by Little House on the Prairie, The Thorn Birds, Dharma Bums, and Cold Mountain, Kelso weaves a moving story about family amidst war. Kelso "s visual storytelling, uniquely combining delicate linework with rhythmic, musical page compositions, creates a dramatic tension between intimate, ruminative character studies and the unflinching depiction of the consequences of war and carnage, lending cohesion and resonance to a generational epic. This is Kelso "s first new work in four years; the widespread critical reception of her previous work makes Artichoke Tales one of the most eagerly anticipated graphic novels of 2010.
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Axe Cop 1
"Created by five-year-old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his older brother, the cartoonist Ethan Nicolle, Axe Cop Volume 1 collects the entire original run of the hit webcomic that has captured the world's attention with its insanely imaginative adventures"--back cover.
Follows the adventures of Axe Cop as he teams up with the ever-changing Flute Cop, recruits new members to his team, fights supernatural villains throughout the universe, and answers e-mail questions from fans.
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Black Metal 1
Evil twins Shawn and Sam Stronghand are bored by the daily grind of normalcy: junior high, shopping trips to the mall, and annoying little brothers until they buy a new heavy metal album and their grim desting is revealed. They are the Roth, king of the goblins of hell and heir to the underworld. They become determined to fight to fulfill an ancient prophecy and regain their rightful posibion as Hell Baron of the Pit.
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Children of the Sea 4
Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for T+ audiences. Jim, Dehdeh, and Ruka’s mom finally track down Anglade’s yacht, but neither the rouge scientist nor Umi and Ruka are on board. All that remains is a cryptic invitation to Jim. While Jim tries to figure out the game his ex-colleague is playing and Kanako dives into memories of her daughter Ruka, the strange sea-changes continue around the world.
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Empire State: a love story (or not)
When his best friend, Sara, moves to New York City, Jimmy--who loves science fiction but knows very little about the outside world--works up the courage to travel cross-country by bus to see her, and perhaps change their relationship.
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Hopeless Savages: greatest hits 2000-2010
It's the total swerval return of the First Family of Punk! Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Strange went from the parties, touring, and recording studios of rock stardom to the quiet of the suburbs, but that's no reason they can't still be themselves. Join Dirk and Nikki, along with their kids Rat, Arsenal, Twitch, and Zero as they bounce their way through kidnapping plots, first love, and international intrigue in this massive collection of the Eisner Award-nominated series!
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Level Up
Dennis, the son of Chinese immigrants, yearns to play video games like his friends and, upon his strict father's death, becomes obsessed with them but later, realizing how his father sacrificed for him, he chooses a nobler path.
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Sailor Twain : or, the mermaid in the Hudson
"One hundred years ago. On the foggy Hudson River, a riverboat captain rescues an injured mermaid from the waters of the busiest port in the United States. A wildly popular--and notoriously reclusive--author makes a public debut. A French nobleman seeks a remedy for a curse. As three lives twine together and race to an unexpected collision, the mystery of the Mermaid of the Hudson deepens" -- from publisher's web site.
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Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers
Bound in purple cloth, with oversize pages filled with hallucinatory black-and-white visuals, this graphic novel immediately looks and feels unlike anything else out there. Astonishingly the work of two first-time creators, this is a book that both takes full advantage of its form and offers something unique in the current graphic-novel market: a deep strangeness that pervades every panel, every figure, and even every object within. Although Dunning's humorously dry writing and the bizarrely calm affect of an array of enjoyable characters help create the creepy tone, Singh's flowing, surreal perspectives and vaguely Ditko-esque landscapes of alternate planes are what will cast readers into an unfamiliar and occasionally uncomfortable world. Even amid the constant barrage of obtuse and off-kilter imaginings, there are indelible images that stand out: tortured smoke haunting the air over a mansion; intertwined souls trapped within the insectoid eye of a fly. What's it about? Well, the plot concerns Salem's inheritance of a magic orb from his deceased father, after which he is abetted by the freakish denizens of Dr. Kinoshita's Circus and opposed by the Seven Dark Elders of Midnight City. But what it's really about is the thrill of the genuinely weird.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist
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Shadoweyes
An African American teenage girl in a future dystopia mutates into a manga-style creature, becomes a superhero, and ends up rescuing a young girl from a zombie. The plot touches on many teen-relevant issues, such as politics, friendship, adolescence, responsibility, and loneliness. Featuring a predominantly female African American cast and, with surprisingly comfortable ease, a transsexual character as well. The significance of that would be empty, of course, without the weight and believability of the story's characters and relationships, and the heart-tugging emotions they sometimes produce. The dialog is sharp and rhythmic and the art balances a sleek manga technique, credible future looks and grunge fashions.
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Will Super Villains Be On the Final?
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Temeraire novels comes the first graphic novel in a thrilling new saga about the next generation of high-flying costumed crusaders
HEROISM 101
As universities go, Liberty Vocational is the private college of choice for budding superheroes learning to master their extraordinary powers for the good of humankind. But for sixteen-year-old Leah Taymore, just making her way through classes without incident is shaping up to be a superhuman task. Star struck by legendary ex-hero turned student advisor Calvin Washington, petrified by ultrastrict dean Dr. Santos, and tongue-tied over her supercool (and handsome) classmate Paul Lyman, timid Leah fears that even her ability to manipulate atoms won’t be enough to survive the rigors of L.V.-and become a full-fledged defender of all that is right. But the real test of her mettle is yet to come, in the form of infamous supervillain Bane, who has infiltrated Liberty with a sinister plan to bring down the best and brightest heroes of tomorrow before they even take flight.
