Graphic Novels shine bright at the CSLA 2021 Virtual Conference

At the 2020 CSLA conference in City of Industry, there were four sessions focusing on graphic novels in the library and classrooms.  These sessions happened to be non-conflicting - they were all in their own time slot, mostly back-to-back.  As we watched the crowd of folks shuffle from one graphic novel session to the next, Katie McNamara, then CSLA President-elect, and I realized the need for an entire section of the conference to be dedicated to this topic. To this goal, CSLA’s 2021 Virtual Conference had seven author panels stacked with graphic novel creators, and five concurrent sessions dedicated to graphic novels.  

Graphic Novel Creator Panels

For our author panels, I wanted to have a balance of topics that are important in collection development and curricular use of graphic novels.  We had a panel dedicated to OwnVoices in graphic novels, where creators discussed some of their creative processes and decisions to write stories that have their own lives and experiences infused into the stories.  Another panel focused on the need for LGBTQ+ stories in graphic novels, and creators shared their personal perspectives and the impact it had on the stories they choose to tell.  Creators also showcased how graphic novels can tackle difficult topics, like child abuse, death of a parent, or economic disparities, or be a captivating way to connect with readers.  Several creators explained the way they connect with their readers through activities included in their books, and encouraged students to share their stories and their creativity with the world. 

Creator panels also focused on how their stories connect to school curriculum.  Many of the storylines in graphic novels tackle tough philosophical dilemmas that can spark deep classroom conversations and debates.  Some also include scientific principles like Coding or wilderness survival.  Teachers may be tempted to think that graphic novels can only be used in English classes since it’s a type of book, but these creators discussed how graphic novels can connect to a variety of subjects. One panel of creators shared their creative process while doodling suggestions from the audience.  Each had some great advice about helping students find their own drawing style, and not to compare their style with other artists.  Jarrett Lerner shared some sketches from college where he was trying to imitate the style of great classical artists.  He said, "I thought I had to be like Michelangelo in order to haven an artistic voice."  It was only after he decided to base his art on basic shapes that he found his own style and found his own art style that he employs in all his works.  

We also had one panel completely different from the others.  “A Book’s Journey” had creator Mika Song and the creative team from RH Kids Graphic describe what goes into getting a book from the creator’s mind to the shelf of your favorite bookstore.  

Educators share their resources

Our Graphic Novel strand included several concurrent sessions where educators got to share how they use graphic novels in their classrooms, or other resources to help librarians with collection development.  

Tim Smyth, history educator from Pennsylvania, shared his resources that started as integrating comics in the history curriculum and its expansion to include other subject areas.  Tim approaches comics as “cultural artifacts” and uses them to connect students with a period or event in history, including current events.  Teacher Librarian Emily Ratica from San Bernardino, CA presented two different sessions - one on comics, and one on manga, to help librarians find resources for selection, and offered programming suggestions for once the books are in the library.  Yours truly offered a session full of recommendations for purchase based off my year of reading graphic novels.  It was a whirlwind 55-titles-in-50-minutes sprint separated into Comicbooks, manga, and graphic novel recommendations for purchase, all quality titles that students are sure to love. Deborah Ford-Salyer from Teachingbooks.net shared the resources available in our State-provided database that can help librarians and classroom teachers find quality titles and integrate them into their curriculum.  

Creators offered some lovely pearls of wisdom

“Aspirations to make something amazing is the greatest road block to the creative process.” 
Offered by Julia Kaye from our LGBTQ+ panel, this nugget inspired lots of conversation amongst our panelists when asked how to get students interested in telling their own stories.  Students often start drawing or writing stories, but give up because it’s not “perfect.”  But perfection isn’t the goal - the goal is sharing the story.  As educators, we need to encourage students to create and draw in their own styles and their own ways, and instill in them a sense of accomplishment even if drawings aren’t “perfect.” 

Trung Le Nguyen also shared some great insights on our LGBTQ+ panel: 

• “Done is Better than Perfect” - encourage students to get it on the page and finish a whole story, rather than stress over whether the drawings are perfect
• The hand of the art is a part of the handwriting - each artist and storyteller has their own handwriting, so they all have their own way of expression through art.  Imitation can be helpful when first starting out, but ultimately, we all have our own way of drawing and expressing our artistic self.

Communicate something that connects with another person, and something that you, yourself connect to. 

This sentiment from Trung Le Nguyen was echoed throughout the LGBTQ+ panel.  Stan Stanley's advice was that it is much easier and more fulfilling to create a story that you're passionate about, on something that you connect with.  Lilah Sturges also advised students to stop thinking that their stories aren't interesting, that they don't matter.  No one else knows your experiences, so share them with the world.

Help students obtain the vocabulary to describe what they're going through. 
When asked, “who needs your story,” our LGBTQ+ creators said, “Everybody!” But, many of their stories especially need to get into the hands of the students who don’t feel comfortable in their own skin, who maybe don’t have the words to describe how they feel, who need that vocabulary to aptly describe their experiences.  

Graphic Novels are for ALL Kids!
This pearl was offered up by Jarrett Lerner.  Jarrett shared how comics helped him as a child, but concludes that all students can benefit from reading graphic novels, not just students who are reading at lower grade levels or have dyslexia, or English Language Learners.  Too often, we segregate graphic novels into an area in our minds as “for struggling readers,” but, as Jarrett says, “we need to stop qualifying.”  Graphic novels are great for ALL kids. Period.

Sara Smith is currently in her 7th year as a high school Teacher Librarian in Sanger, CA.  Previously, she taught for 6 years in the English department at her school.  ​She is currently service as the Vice President of Professional Development for CSLA.

Twitter: @sm_wordsmith