{"id":10360,"date":"2010-06-24T01:44:46","date_gmt":"2010-06-24T08:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=10360"},"modified":"2010-06-24T01:44:46","modified_gmt":"2010-06-24T08:44:46","slug":"a-huge-long-list-of-comics-recommendations-for-an-11-year-old-girl-by-rachel-edidin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=10360","title":{"rendered":"A huge long list of comics recommendations for an 11-year-old girl, by Rachel Edidin"},"content":{"rendered":"

[My awesome friend Rachel Edidin<\/a> tweeted that she had “Just sent someone a huge long list of comics recommendations for her 11-year-old daughter.” Of course, I immediately asked her if I could post the list here. Thanks, Rachel!<\/p>\n

Also, I added links. Where Rachel recommended a series of books I linked to the first in the series. Or just to a random choice, if the series didn’t have any apparent order. –Amp]<\/em><\/p>\n

The following is a list I compiled casually–mostly off the top of my head, which is my excuse for many of the no doubt numerous omissions (Sock Monkey<\/a>! How could I have forgotten Sock Monkey?!)–for an acquaintance who asked me to recommend comics for her eleven-year-old daughter. As I mention below, I wasn’t shooting for a comprehensive list, nor even a super thorough one: the titles I mentioned are, for the most part, ones that I’ve read and enjoyed and that I feel comfortable recommending with little or no reservation to an eleven-year-old (and her parents). The list is also tailored somewhat to the interests of this particular eleven-year-old, who likes adventure and space but isn’t particularly interested in fairies, romance, or soap-opera angst.<\/p>\n

In short: Your mileage will vary.<\/p>\n

The other major considerations that went into the list were accessibility–I wanted to include books she was likely to be able to find at her school or local public library–and content–no explicit sex or graphic violence, and a hashmark to indicate books I thought Mom might want to review before passing them along to her daughter (not just based on sex and violence–for example, I marked Tintin because I’d balk at giving it to a kid without a conversation or two about racism and colonialism; and The Rabbi’s Cat because I consider it to be generally a more grown-up book). I’ve deliberately erred on the side of caution in terms of content–I grew up with almost no restrictions on reading material, and at eleven I was cheerfully reading Marge Piercey, Angela Carter, and Tom Robbins, so I’m not entirely comfortable gauging what constitutes age-appropriate material. Here, for the most part, I’ve omitted books that I might recommend only to specific eleven-year-olds. I struggled over whether to include Street Angel and Sparks but ultimately decided to keep them on the list, mostly because of how deeply I identify with both books and how much I know I would have loved them as an eleven-year-old. Others of the titles on the list–most notably, The Rabbi’s Cat and some of the G. T. Labs books–might skew older for more academic reasons, but I’d consider them well within the capacity and interest of many smart eleven-year-olds.<\/p>\n

You’ll also notice a dearth of licensed comics and adaptations (although I’ll be the first to admit that there are some splendid ones out there). There are a couple reasons for this. First, extensive established continuity is a major turn-off for me when I’m trying something out for the first time (this is the same reason the only ongoing superhero comics you’ll see on the list are ones whose early arcs can stand alone). Second, I’m a huge format nerd: I like the idea of introducing newcomers to comics that they will see first and foremost as *comics* rather than immediately associating them with works in other media.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

* indicates how-to books about making comics.
\n# indicates books you should review before giving them to your dd. No explicit sex or super-graphic violence, but some adult themes. I’ve probably used this more liberally than is technically called for, but better safe than sorry.<\/p>\n

In Print<\/strong>
\nHereville<\/a>, by Barry Deutsch (the hardcover will be out in fall)
\nAmerican Born Chinese<\/a>, by Gene Luen Yang (If her school library doesn’t have this, it’s worth writing a stern letter about. American Born Chinese is one of the best YA graphic novels ever written, and was the first YA comic to be picked as a National Book Award finalist.)
\n*Drawing Comics Is Easy (Except When It’s Hard)<\/a>, by Alexa Kitchen
\nPolly and the Pirates, by Ted Naifeh
\nCourtney Crumrin<\/a> (series; four volumes so far), by Ted Naifeh
\nUsagi Yojimbo<\/a>, by Stan Sakai
\nThe Courageous Princess<\/a>, by Rod Espinoza
\nGroo<\/a>, by Sergio Aragon\u00e9s
\nSupergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade<\/a>, by Landry Q. Walker and Eric Jones
\nBanana Sunday<\/a>, by Colleen Coover
\n#The Adventures of Tintin<\/a>, by Herg\u00e9 (you might want to skim some of these for content; they’re older and very much products of their era in terms of their handling of race, etc. That said, I grew up on them and turned out okay. Smiley )
\nUltimate Spider-Man<\/a> (vol. 1-3), by Brian Bendis et. al.
\nSpider-Man Loves Mary Jane<\/a>, by Sean McKeever et. al.
\n#Street Angel<\/a>, by Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg (definitely read this one first. It’s cartoony, but there are also some adult themes and violence)
\n#Castle Waiting<\/a>, by Linda Medley (It’s been a long time since I’ve read this, so I don’t feel entirely comfortable vouching for the content) ((I read this recently, and loved it, and vouch for the content. –Amp.))
\n#Hopeless Savages<\/a>, by Jen Van Meter (I haven’t read this in a while; it *might* be a bit mature. Review first.)
\n#Sparks<\/a>, by Lawrence Marvit (I think I’m on my fourth or fifth copy of this; I keep giving them away. It’s one of my favorite comics. Might be slightly better suited to a slightly older reader, but I’d have loved it at eleven, so.)
\n#Runaways<\/a>, by Brian K. Vaughn et. al.
\n#Persepolis<\/a>, by Marjane Satrapi
\n#The Rabbi’s Cat<\/a>, by Joann Sfar (Not really a YA book persay, but I would have devoured it as a kid. Gorgeous, fantastic)
\nEmily and the Intergalactic Lemonade Stand<\/a>, by Ian Smith and Tyson Smith (Might skew a tad bit young, but it’s a LOT of fun)
\nAnything by Hope Larson<\/a>
\nAnything by Raina Telgemeier<\/a>
\nAnything by Jim Ottaviani<\/a> \/ G.T. Labs (Particularly Two-Fisted Science<\/a> and Dignifying Science<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Online<\/strong>
\nButterfly<\/a>, by Dean Trippe and Jemma Salume
\nLunchbox Funnies<\/a> (all-ages webcomics network)
\nRice Boy <\/a>and Order of Tales<\/a>, by Evan Dahm
\nMinus<\/a>, by Ryan Armand<\/p>\n

Books I Haven’t Read But Which Come Highly Recommended by Librarians, Teachers, and Other YA Comics Fans I Trust (no content markers, since I’m not personally familiar with the books)<\/strong>
\nSkim<\/a>, by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
\nRapunzel’s Revenge<\/a>, by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale
\nBone<\/a>, by Jeff Smith
\n*Adventures in Cartooning<\/a>, by James Sturm et. al.
\nSidekicks<\/a>, by J. Torres et. al.
\nThe War at Ellesmere<\/a>, by Faith Erin Hicks
\nZombies Calling<\/a>, by Faith Erin Hicks
\nI Kill Giants<\/a>, by Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Nimura
\nSardine In Outer Space<\/a>, by Emmanuel Guibert and Joann Sfar<\/p>\n

…And A Special One-Item List of Really Fantastic YA-Friendly Fantasy Graphic Novels I’m Editing Which Will Be Out in 2011:<\/strong>
\nThe Last Dragon<\/a>, by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Guay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[My awesome friend Rachel Edidin tweeted that she had “Just sent someone a huge long list of comics recommendations for her 11-year-old daughter.” Of course, I immediately asked her if I could post the list here. Thanks, Rachel! Also, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cartooning-comics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}