Town School for Boys Library

The library just got 800 million brand new books!

Okay, okay. Not quite 800 million. We admit, that’s a little bit of an exaggeration. But we did get a whole lot of new books — four boxes full, to be specific!

Among these books are some fantastic new graphic novels that you might enjoy. Read about them below.

	Tiny Tyrant, by Lewis Trondheim and Fabrice Parme In Portocristo, anything six-year-old King Ethelbert says goes, no matter how bizarre or harebrained. He transports himself back in time to meet a dinosaur, swaps his country’s kids for Ethelbert robots, tests his bodyguard’s mettle by putting a price on his own head, and shrinks the world down to his size.
	Goosebumps Graphix: Creepy Creatures. The fantastically popular Goosebumps books are now available in graphic novel form! This collection includes “The Werewolf of Fever Swamp,” “The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight,” and “The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena.”
	Big Fat Little Lit by Art Spiegelman. A collection of very silly short stories presented in comic book format. Includes some games and activities.
	Spiderman: Forces of NatureIt’s wall-to-wall mayhem in the Mighty Marvel Manner with four original tales of everybody’s favorite teenage wall-crawler! Featuring the Grey Gargoyle and Hydro-Man.

Hey Bone fans! Book #7 has arrived!  If you would like to borrow Ghost Circles, the latest full-color version of Jeff Smith’s hugely popular Bone series, stop by the library and put your name on the sign-up sheet on our front door.  We have two copies of the book, so we hope you won’t have to wait too long before it’s your turn.

Speaking of madly popular books, we also have just a few more You Wouldn’t Want To books available.  If you’re curious about exactly why you wouldn’t want to be an Aztec sacrifice, or why you wouldn’t want to be an American colonist, come check them out.

Did you know that the library had a graphic novels collection specifically for 6th through 8th graders? (Younger students can borrow from this collection too, so long as a parent gives the OK.)

For those not familiar with this book format, a graphic novel is basically a long version of a comic book, with a paperback or hardback binding. Some graphic novels are actually collections of shorter comic book. For instance, the library has a 500-page Green Lantern book featuring 56 of these classic comics. We’ve also got two copies of Marvel’s The Amazing Spiderman, which includes reprints of dozens of popular Spiderman issues.

But graphic novels go way beyond superheroes. Authors and artists have collaborated to produce illustrated versions of well-known works of literature, like Beowulf and Frankenstein. There’s even a graphic novel version of the 9/11 Report! We’re also working on beefing up Town’s manga collection, for those students who enjoy reading these popular Japanese graphic novels.

Some of the highlights of our growing graphic novels collection at Town include:

Hikaru no Go — GN HOT v. 1
Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal schoolboy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained Go board in his grandfather’s attic — and that’s when things get really interesting.

The Red Badge of Courage — GN VAN
In a perfect world, young Henry Fleming would have been content to remain on the family farm. But the Civil War shattered that dream, tearing families apart, pitting brothers against brothers.

Marvel 1602 — GN GAI
Classic Marvel icons such as the X-Men, Spiderman, the Fantastic Four and Daredevil appear in this intriguing world of 17th century science and sorcery, instantly familiar to readers, yet subtly different in this new time.

Persepolis — GN SAT
Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution…The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

(All book descriptions taken from jacketflaps.)

You’ll find these graphic novels — and others — lined up atop the shelf to the left of the main entrance. All of them have bright yellow “GN” (Graphic Novel) stickers on their spines, plus the first three letters of their author’s last names. Let us know if you have any suggestions for additions to our library!