Graphic novels recommended for public libraries by Steve Raiteri By way of introduction: I'm a librarian at the Greene County Public Library in Xenia, Ohio, and for the past few years I've been buying graphic novels (comic books, that is) for my library system. They've proven very popular at our libraries, and I put this page together to help other librarians who may want to add graphic novels to their collections but have difficulty locating information about them. I've been a comic book reader for over 25 years, and this is a selective list of what I think are the best books we've gotten so far, out of over 1000 titles we've bought. (It also includes a few titles that I have not bought for the library yet, but hope to, if budget allows.) The list grew out of a handout I created for a program on graphic novels that I presented at an Ohio Library Council chapter conference in 1997, and I have updated it regularly since. I've read almost every book listed here. A word about terminology: a "graphic novel", by definition, is a stand-alone story in comics form, published as a book. Examples are Batman: The Killing Joke and Cathedral Child. Most of the titles on this list, however, are actually trade paperback (or sometimes hardcover) collections of stories that were initially published serially in comic books. Many of the best books on this list, from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns to Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, are books of this type. Some of them do amount to stand-alone novels published serially (as Charles Dickens used to do), while others are anthologies of a variety of stories, and some are excerpts from larger narratives, with subplots introduced in the middle of the story (in the manner of a soap opera) and concluded in later, uncollected issues of the comic book. To simplify matters, the term "graphic novel" is sometimes extended to cover all of these books, and I use it that way here. After each title, I've listed the ISBN number and price.
Cerebus (0919359086, 25.00)
High Society (0919359078, 25.00) This black and white fantasy series by Dave Sim began in the late 1970s, and was one of the first self-published comics to gain a large audience. The title character is a walking, talking aardvark in a world of humans. Together these two books collect the first 50 issues of the series . It began as a parody of Conan the Barbarian, quickly growing to include parodies of other fantasy and comics characters and characters patterned after real-life comedians, but by the middle of the first book Cerebus becomes involved in complex political intrigue, and the parody becomes only part of a much larger story. There are many more books in the series to buy if demand warrants -- these first two are the most accessible, in my opinion. -- Aardvark-Vanaheim
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Authorized Collection (1563892715, 14.95) Comics version of Douglas Adams' hilarious book. -- DC
The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln (1887279873, 19.95) (op) By Scott McCloud of Zot! fame, this is a fun, far-out story about Abraham Lincoln's return to America in the present day, with artwork done entirely on computers. -- Homage ou will find many interesting titles described at: http://my.voyager.net/~sraiteri/graphicnovels.htm
Note that the list was last updated in 2003.

impresa (im-PRAY-zuh) noun
An emblem or device, usually with a motto. From Italian impresa (undertaking), past participle of imprendere (to undertake), from Latin in- + prehendere (to grasp). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghend-/ghed- (to seize or to take), which is also the source of pry, prey, spree, reprise, surprise, pregnant, osprey, prison, and get. Earliest documented use: before 1586.
fugue (fyoog) noun
1. A musical form in which a theme is repeated in several voices and developed into a complex pattern.
2. A pathological state of consciousness in which someone appears to be conscious of one's actions but has no memory of them after returning to a normal state. From Italian fuga (escape, flight), from Latin fuga (flight), from fugere (to flee) which is also the source of fugitive, centrifugal, subterfuge, refuge, and fugacious. Earliest documented use: 1597. A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

The Discover Great New Writers™ program is proud to have introduced the following writers to an eager reading public (just a small number of the nearly 2,000 writers we’ve discovered): T. C. Boyle, Patricia Cornwell, Junot Diaz, Jasper Fforde, Elizabeth Gilbert, Robert Goolrick, Barbara Kingsolver, Janice Y. K. Lee, Jonah Lehrer, Colum McCann, Cormac McCarthy, Audrey Niffenegger, Michael Pollan, Alice Sebold, Rebecca Skloot, Kathryn Stockett, and David Wroblewski. Annually, Barnes & Noble recognizes two of our exceptional writers with the Discover Great New Writers Award (one each for Fiction and Non-Fiction). In addition to a $10,000 prize, we promote the winning titles extensively in our stores and online. http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_publishers/discover_program/discover_program.html

Discover 2011 selections http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/discover-seasonal-books/379001112/

Timeline of the former Yugoslavia from 1918-2006 In 1918, as an outcome of World War I, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes is formed. Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina had been part of the fallen Austro-Hungarian empire; Serbia and Montenegro existed as an independent state (Macedonia was then part of Serbia). In 1929, the monarchy's name is changed to Yugoslavia. Read the rest of the timeline at: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/yugotimeline1.html

A planet orbiting a distant star is darker than coal, reflecting less than one percent of the starlight falling on it, according to a paper published August 11. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/hcfa-awi081111.php The strange world, TrES-2b, is a gas giant the size of Jupiter, rather than a solid, rocky body like Earth or Mars, astronomers said. It closely orbits the star GSC 03549-02811, located about 750 light years away in the direction of the constellation of Draco the Dragon. "TrES-2b is considerably less reflective than black acrylic paint, so it's truly an alien world," David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a press release issued by Britain's Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). "However, it's not completely pitch black. It's so hot that it emits a faint red glow, much like a burning ember or the coils on an electric stove." More than 500 extrasolar planets have been identified since 1995. TrES-2b, like our moon, is believed to be locked by gravitational tide, presenting only one face to its star. The study, published in the RAS journal Monthly Notices, used NASA's orbiting Kepler spacecraft to make the observations. http://news.discovery.com/space/black-exoplanet-kepler-110811.html

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