I'd like some recommendations for graphic novels for boys around age 9 and up. We know about the Tintin series and have most of these.

My son was a late reader and while he has "caught up" for the most part to his age level, I like to provide as much incentive as I can to keep him reading. He loves the Tintin series so I thought I'd look for some more graphic novel type series.

Thanks for your input,

Ann

My boys like Naruto and Dragonball Z, but they are rated "T" for teen.  I don't know exactly why but it could be that there are occasional illustrations of women dressed provacatively.  I am pretty careful about what my kids watch and read and they don't bother me but you should be aware so you can make a choice.

I know exactly what you're talking about because I have a son just like yours. My son is all excited about the Black Belt series. They are written by a karate instructor and so far there are only three in the series. I have the second one in front of me...The Black Belt Club Night on the Mountain of Fear.  Dawn Barnes. I hope this helps. Dolly

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is popular now but know this about them. First they were written for adults and published in a magazine first now are published as children's books. Second, book one has a story that blows it that mom is playing Santa and that Santa is not real. Also these are about a public schooled kid who is wimpy and is bullied. He is also quite mean and nasty albeit it is 'typical middle school' for when I was in it in the 1970s and still the way it is today. Just know that before you have him read it. To read more of what I have to say about that series you can read this blog post of mine. (The book is required reading in a 5th grade school near me, surprisingly enough.)

http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2009/01/diary-of-wimpy-kid-third-book-in-series.html

Most of the grapic books are not big series. There are good titles out there in various genres but they are usually one of a kind topics not a series. Robot Dreams is a great one. You can read my Robot Dreams book review here if you want.

http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2008/11/robot-dreams-book-review-by-christinemm.html

Japanese manga is another thing altogether. Hikaru No Go is rated A for ALL ages. YuGiOh is rated T and some have large breasted girls in skimpy clothes. Be careful about any T rated Japanese manga. Some of the T rated manga is a certain type (name escapes me now) that focuses on lesbian relationships and another word they use is for homosexual-male relationships.

I was surprised by some of what was in Dr. Slump (rated T for Teen) Japanese manga. You can read my review here.

http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2007/12/dr-slump-volume-1-manga-book-review-by.html

I drive about 25 minutes to another town that has a large graphic novels section. They recently pulled out from that one section, the books best for kids age 11 and under. That was a help as some of the books marketed toward teens do have full nudity and sexual scenes, including some of the new books based on the Superheroes from the 1940s and 1950s!!! Anyhow my point is to try local libraries, drive to different towns if your state allows you to borrow from other libraries than the town you live in. And just be careful of the graphic novels. There are a lot more out there for teens that do include sex and nudity and some are published for adults, some that I read I know are benig read by high school and middle school students but tell stories such as parents having affairs, physical domestic violence, child sex abuse to the main character and so on. Just because young children CAN read the comic format be cautious about WHAT they read as some is just too mature for a nine year old like your child and mine!

Thanks for the suggestions-esp the Black belt series. My son has been in karate for 3 yrs and might love this one.

I also discovered the Fog Mound series and my son is reading the first one now.

I was checking out Library & Educational Services' current e-mail sale this morning and found this:

www.libraryanded.com/store/TIMEL201.html

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Rubicon
Series: Timeline Series
Copyright: 2007
For Ages: 9 to 12
For Grades: 4th to 6th
Size: 6½ X 10¼
Pages: 48

They have a set of 15 for $38.25, which is 75% off of retail.  They sell wholesale to HS'ers.

The titles are:

• Napolean's Last Stand:  France, 1700's
• D-Day:  June 6, 1944
• Escape from East Berlin:  Summer 1963
• The First Emperor:  Chinese Emperor Zheng
• Trapped in Gallipoli:  World War I, Turkey
• Elephant Army:  Alexander the Great
• Fight for Rights:  Women's Suffrage in England
• Fire Mountain:  Mt. Vesuvius & Pompeii
• The Hidden Message:  William Shakepeare
• In a Class of her Own:  The Story of Ruby Bridges
• The Magic Tile:  Stories of the Arabian Nights
• Marco Polo & the Roc:  A Visit to China
• Nellie in the News:  The Nellie Bly Story
• Nomad King:  The Story of Genghis Khan
• Raiders of the Seas:  Pirates of Early 1700's

If you search for "Timeline Graphic Novels" here on PBS, there are a few listed that are available.

Yeah, I was going to mention Library and Educational Services too - www.libraryanded.com.  Really great resource!

They have quite a few good quality graphic-style books and series that bring history to life for reluctant readers.  The Timeline series mentioned above, the Osprey Graphic History series, and Rosen Graphic Nonfiction series.  They even sell a Graphic-Novel style Bible for kids.

Just visit their website and type in the word "graphic" (without the quotes) to their search engine and it'll bring up all that stuff.

Hope that helps!

My son has exactly the same issue and he is reading the Bone series by Jeff Smith and really likes them.  I think there are 9 in the series right now.

How about PeachFuzz? It is 3 books and has ferrets. It does have a girl as a main character however.  My son 11  also started free reading with graphic novels. I think there is a place for them.

Just want to restate from my long post a few months ago that some of the BEST stories are stand alone graphic books not series. So check the library and see what good ones you can find. Yes it is more work to find multiple books from different authors that are one-off' books.

My 11YO and 9YO recently read a 4 part series about Speed Racer. Also my 11YO just read "Indiana Jones Omnibus".

I have read a couple of classic books in graphic format. Some are original text (hard language) and others are watered down to modern English and some are for quick English reading.

Barnes & Noble retail stores have a huge graphic novel and manga section to browse for appropriateness. I'd love to buy lots but they can be over $15 for one and sometimes are consumed in an hour. I can't afford to keep my kids in that many graphic novels so rely on what I can get at libraries more.

The Graphic Bible by Jeff Anderson is really great for pre-teens, if you're into that kind of stuff.  Lots of battle scenes and gritty stuff to keep them interested.

I second the mention of the Bone series.  Our entire family loves them.   Check out the website at http://www.scholastic.com/bone/

My one complaint is that Scholastic has done a terrible job in the binding of these books - the pages fall out very easily, and they are not inexpensive books.  Same with Captain Underpants (although they are cheap) - they fall apart if you look at them.