BAKER'S NAT TURNER NOMINATED FOR YALSA GREAT GRAPHIC NOVEL AWARD

[MattBrady]

Press Release

This past week YALSA announced Kyle Baker's Image Comics debut, NAT TURNER: REVOLUTION, has been nominated for their Great Graphic Novel award.

"Having NAT TURNER: REVOLUTION nominated is a true honor and shows Image is the right home for my work," said Kyle Baker. "Getting Nat Turner's story out there was a very personal goal of mine. It's great feeling to know it's so well received."

NAT TURNER: REVOLUTION concludes Baker's two-part biography of Nat Turner which originally started through his own publishing house, Kyle Baker Publishing. The library he's brought to Image includes NAT TURNER, THE BAKERS, SPECIAL FORCES and the forthcoming IMPORTANT LITERARY JOURNAL.

Image Comics Publisher Erik Larsen said, "Everyone at Image is thrilled our first collaboration with Kyle is up for such an award. I truly feel he is doing the best work of his career and we couldn't be happier to have it under the Image I."

NAT TURNER: REVOLUTION (DEC061863), a 100-page B&W graphic novel for $10.00, is currently available for reorder.

[Jeremy Holstein]

This could be the bloodiest book ever nominated for a Young Adult prize.

[CitC]

It is kind of rough that way, but it is really good. Have any teachers out there read it yet? I have never been able to figure out what age/school level it is for.

[.V.]

Librarians seem to know about all these cool books before they are cool any where else... Last time I walked into my library I found perspolis for the first time.

[librarykat]

The Great Graphic Novels LIST is not an award, really, but a list of excellent graphic novels that librarians think teens will like. And in fact, the librarians on the committee do get teens to read the graphic novels and give them feedback. I was the chairperson of the task force that created the list and committee for YALSA. YA librarians serve a wide range of ages, from as young as 11 to as old as 19. When one considers the variety of maturity levels among young people in that age range, it can boggle the mind. So yes, Kyle Baker's Nat Turner is bloody, but I consider it appropriate for readers in high school. I would, of course, caution teachers to read it and consider whether it will be appropriate for their students. But definitely older teens in junior and senior years of high school should be able to handle the violence. After all, this is history, not just mindlessly violent horror. And I think that was Baker's point - history can be bloody and horrible, but we can't shut our eyes to it and ignore it.
If anyone would like to see the 2007 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens, you can go to http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsaw...orteens/gn.cfm and click on the link for "2007 Great Graphic Novels."
And yes, .V., librarians tend to be on the cutting edge of literature - I was promoting graphic novels for libraries back in 1984, and I wasn't the first one by any means.
BTW, graphic novels selected for the Great Graphic Novels for Teens list will NOT all be titles appropriate for school library collections. Lots of teens with more mature mindsets can and will read titles that have mature content. I was reading adult books since I was 10 years old (I was a bit precocious that way) - with my parents' approval.

[Not From Around]

Originally Posted by librarykat

Teens list will NOT all be titles appropriate for school library collections. Lots of teens with more mature mindsets can and will read titles that have mature content. I was reading adult books since I was 10 years old (I was a bit precocious that way) - with my parents' approval.

You can say that again! If you manage a library in a town with relatively conservative community standards you learn to be very, very careful about YALSA recommendations. They're so big on being "edgy" that I treat it almost as a warning badge. Which is not to say that the works they suggest aren't often the product of considerable talent. I just wish they weren't so dedicated to pushing envelopes.