The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - Will Eisner

Genres: Graphic novels, History
Recommended Grades: 10 Up

I always enjoy reading about things I do not know about so I figured it would be interesting to give The Plot by Will Eisner a shot. The Plot examines the history of another book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The Protocols is an account of a meeting of Jewish leaders around the beginning of the 20th century. The book details the tactics Jews will use to take over the world. The Protocols has been used by many groups as proof of a Jewish conspiracy as well as justification for antisemitic activities. The only problem is that The Protocols is a fraud - it is slightly changed version of another book, The Dialogue in Hell between Machiavelli and Montesquieu written in France in the mid-19th century.

Eisner has done his research and put together an easy to read history of The Protocols, detailing why The Dialogue was written, the political climate that brought about The Protocols, and how The Protocols continue to be distributed worldwide even though it was proven to be a fraud over eighty years ago. Not having any knowledge of this subject I found the book enlightening and informative. The is a section in the middle of the book that puts the text of The Protocols alongside the text of The Dialogue to show how obvious the plagiarism was - in my opinion this part dragged on a bit much but I imagine Eisner was really trying to drive home the point that The Protocols is bull. I think kids interested in history, particularly in Jewish history would find this to be a great book. The artwork is very good but the meat of this book lies in the text, not the pictures.

Absolutely Positively Not - David LaRochelle

Genres: General fiction, Social Issues
Recommended Grades: 6-10

Being a teenager isn’t easy. You’ve got all types of problems, all sorts of issues to deal with and not a lot of experience to guide you through them. Steven DeNarski has got plenty of problems. He can’t seem to pass his driver’s exam. His mom is a best-selling author of a book titled The clean teen: a how-to manual on raising tidy teenagers – she also happens to be a complete slob. He is also totally gay but in complete denial. Absolutely Positively Not is the hilarious account of a kid coming to grips with his sexuality while at the same time just trying to survive high school. David LaRochelle did a great job with this book. He seems to understand how the mind of a high school kid works. Steven is a great character – he is a little neurotic which shows up in the funniest ways. Despite the controversial nature of the topic of sexuality this book is suitable for middle school kids as well as high school kids. I would recommend it to any kid looking for a funny read. I would also recommend it to a kid grappling with their own sexual identity.

Black Hole - Charles Burns

Genres: Graphic novels, Fantasy
Recommended Grades: 11 Up

As a school librarian that serves kids from sixth through twelfth grade I am often faced with difficult decisions when purchasing books. You see, I think it is important to provide my older kids with books that are challenging, interesting and emotionally stimulating - at the same time I need to be sensitive to the fact that my younger students may not have the maturity necessary to be exposed to these books. A graphic novel intended for older kids can make this issue even tougher. The younger kids are drawn to these graphic novels like deer to a salt lick. Normally a book that discusses more mature topics like sex and drugs would not be a big deal - the younger kids would have to read the text to find the racy parts and even if they find these parts they might not understand what they are reading. With graphic novels the images are put right out there - you don't have to be mature to know what a naked body looks like.

With this in mind I read Black Hole by Charles Burns. The title was initially brought to my attention by another teacher that had borrowed it from our library. He showed me a few pages in the book that show the naked bodies of both men and women. He told me he had not read the entire novel because he had trouble with the graphic novel format so he really didn't know what the context of the nude images was - either way I knew I needed to read the book before putting it back on the shelf.

The story centers around a couple of teenagers growing up in Seattle in the 1970s. Keith and Chris are fairly typical high school kids - Keith likes to hang out with his friends smoking pot and talking about music - Chris is insecure about herself and makes poor decisions when drunk. In separate incidents both Keith and Chris catch "the bug", a sexually transmitted disease with a wide range of symptoms - some people end up with a few bumps on their skin, others grow lizard-like tails and shed their skin. As with most STDs their is a stigma attached to those with the bug and this is really what Black Hole is about. Keith and Chris both deal with catching the bug in different ways - by the end of the story people have been killed and hearts have been broken but happiness is to be had by some of the characters.

The story is good (albeit very weird) but not great - in particular I didn't really like the ending. The artwork however is awesome - the black and white illustrations convey plenty of emotion and lend an eerie, uneasy feeling that is appropriate for a book dealing with teenagers growing up. I think this book would be enjoyed by kids that are into stories that are way out there, especially those that like comics and other graphic novels. I am not an experienced graphic novel reader and I was able to navigate through the pages fairly well so that shouldn't be a deterrent for those that have not read books in this format before. This book is definitely suited for older teens only - there are oodles of graphic images that depict drug use, drinking, nudity and sex. These images are not gratuitous - they play a central role in the story - nonetheless they are very graphic.

This brings me back to the initial issue - what do I do with this book? Do I put it back on the shelf or do I remove it from the collection? I believe the book has some literary merit for older kids but I also do not think that the images are appropriate for younger eyes. At this point I haven't decided what I will do. Anybody out there with any input should leave a comment or contact me as I would love some feedback regarding this book.

Code Talker - Joseph Bruchac

Genres: Historical Fiction, War
Recommended Grades: 5 Up

As a minor history buff I have always enjoyed reading stories that gave me a picture of the past, particularly stories that dealt with events I did not know much about. Because of this I found Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac a really interesting read. Until reading this book I knew very little about the Navajo Indians that served as code talkers during World War II.

The story centers around Ned Begay, a young Navajo boy living on the reservation in Arizona. The early part of the story gives the reader some insight into life on the reservation - the traditions and ceremonies, the culture and also the Navajo's interaction with White America. Ned's family sends him to an American run boarding school for Navajos. One of the goals at the boarding school is to take the Navajo culture out of the kids and turn them into Americans - the children are not even allowed to speak in their native language. This is ironic because a few years later, at the onset of World War II, the US military comes to the Navajo people for help. They need men that can speak both Navajo and English fluently. The military needs to develop a code that the Japanese can not break and the Navajo language will be the key. Ned joins the Marines and becomes a code talker. During the second part of the story the reader gets a great look at some of the key battles of the war in the Pacific; namely Bougainville, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Through this book we see the vital role the Navajo played in the US victory in World War II.

I thought this was a good book. While this is fiction the book seems to be historically accurate. I learned a lot about a part of US history I was not aware of. I think this book could be read by a wide age range - the writing is simple enough for a middle school kid yet the story is interesting and informative enough to keep a high school kid engaged. I would particularly recommend this book to kids that are into history and war.