Another questionnaire answered and a review of Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell

I received another answer to my questionnaire from Bonnie Svitavsky who is a young adult librarian at Puyallup Public Library. She writes:

1)How large is your library?

We serve a city of roughly 36,000, as well as areas of the surrounding county.

2) How many graphic novels do you have in collection? How many of those are manga?

We have about 1100 graphic novels. I would guess that at least half of that is manga.

3) Do they circulate well among the YAs?

Yes! There is also a great deal of in-house use.

4) Do you receive any input from YAs concerning graphic novels?

Yes, I receive input via requests from teens, from my TAG, and from my teen volunteers. They make recommendations to me and alert me to what is popular.

5) Why do you think some libraries are reluctant to purchase graphic novels?

It can be an area where not a lot of librarians are familiar with the format, authors, and art. People often think of reading comics as not counting as “real reading” or just a bridge to get readers to “real books.”

6) Do you believe graphic novels are sincere forms of literature?

Absolutely. For more information on why, you should check out Scott McCloud’s book “Understanding Comics” if you haven’t already.

7) Do the higher prices of graphic novels a major deciding factor when purchasing titles for your collection?

I don’t feel that most graphic novels have a higher price compared to YA fiction in hardback or reinforced copies, and definitely not compared to YA non-fiction. I do have to replace GNs more often, because of the amount they get read or insufficient bindings. I’m more concerned about my available shelf space than the cost, though.

8) Where are your graphic novels located? Are they in the general collection or in a spot of their own?

They are a part of the Teen Zone, next to the YA Fiction. However, the nonfiction graphic novels are shelved with the nonfiction materials.

9) Are there any graphic novel titles are currently very popular among YAs?

Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Fruits Basket

[Svitavsky, Bonnie. "Re: [GNLIB-L] Seeking help for a young adult literature class." Email to Brittany Makufka. 26 Oct. 2009.]

We're seeing the usual trends here at this library as we've seen in the other libraries who have answered my questionnaire. But, this library is a much larger library, so they most likely have a lot more patrons and a lot more variety.

I am still surprised at how popular manga is, seeing that about half of every collection that I've seen is made up of manga. So this is clearly a major trend in YA literature and should be noted. Even all of the popular titles Bonnie has noticed are all manga titles.

I was glad that Bonnie mentioned Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. I have not gotten the chance to read this book yet, but I will add it to my list to review for this blog.

Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell was the winner of the 2009 Eisner Award in the category of Best New Graphic Novel. It was also nominated for YALSA's Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2009 list as mentioned in the previous post. So I figured this would be a good graphic novel to read and review for this blog.

This is a story of two step-siblings, Perry and Ruth, who are schizophrenic. Perry sees a tiny wizard who sits on top of his pencil and demands him to draw. Ruth is plagued by insects and her respect for all life forms. The main story is mostly told through Ruth, who seems to be the main character of this book. The kids struggle through family issues, the terminal illness of their grandmother, and first romances. The artwork fits the story perfectly, told in stark black and white with swirling, flowing lines and movement.

The topics that this graphic novel hits on are wide. There is the whole problem of the novel which is the kids' mental illnesses. There is also the illness, and implied mental illness, of their grandmother who Ruth finds dead in their home after taking her in. There is also the plot of Perry and Ruth's first romances. Since a lot of these problems are plaguing young adults, they may find a connection with the characters in the book or simply find these topics interesting.

I must say, initially, I was slightly bored with it. I felt that it only picked up around the middle of the book and I became interested. I was slightly upset with the ending of the book though. I feel as though the entire story confused me, just as the ending did. I do not think that this book is one of my favorite graphic novels, despite many positive, rave reviews for it. So I think that if I had a hard time getting into the story, then it may be even more difficult for young adults to get into it.