​Thanks to my good friend and fellow Comics Education Outreach founder Eric Kallenborn for printing this review on his web site as part of his 365 graphic novel reviews in 365 days experiment over at his website. Check it out! Here is my review, in its entirety, with a few minor edits.

Valiant Comics' Faith has taken the comic world by storm. It has smart writing, action packed panels, and just enough humor to make you smile at least once every three pages. Well…maybe once ever other page. Sure, lots of graphic novels can say the same, but this book has something no other title has – the titular character of Faith herself.

Faith is a woman and a superhero, qualities that are not uncommon within the genre. What makes this particular woman superhero unique is the fact that she does not possess a gravity defying body which remains primarily unhindered by clothing. Faith (and by extension, her alter ego Zephyr) has a more realistic body type and wears a stylish and conservative costume when she fights crime. She is a powerful, confident, and genuinely funny character who jumps off the page. Who she is on the outside might make you curious, but she transcends her physical appearance and exists as a smart, resourceful, and flawed individual with an imagination that the reader is treated to through a different artistic representation. 

​In fact, Faith’s fantasies are what set this title apart from others. Faith is already a superhero with amazing powers and yet she still feels like her life could be more fantastic. This slight sense of uncertainty on her part is just another charming quality that makes me love her all the more. To top it all off, Sshe is also a huge comic book geek and the book is riddled with pop culture references that are sure to appeal to ComicCon nerds everywhere.

The first trade paperback picks up from where the character left off after her introduction in Harbinger as Faith dons a wig and glasses (remind you of a certain set of super cousins, by any chance?) and tries to take on a new identity as a content creator for a gossip website (yet another dig at Clark Kent’s legit reporter gig). Unfortunately for her, she is forced almost immediately to reveal her identity to her co-workers because, in this world, a makeshift disguise isn’t enough to hide you in plain sight and the bad guys come a-knocking right out of the gate. The satire is palpable.

​Faith loves being a superhero and that’s a huge part of what makes this book so fun to read. She’s doing what most of us would if we had access to amazing powers - she’s reveling it in and enjoying the fame, admiration, and notoriety. At the same time, she keeps her head on straight, always tries to make the right decisions (like breaking up a puppy heist ring), and not exploiting and wasting her talents like her reality television star ex-boyfriend and fellow superhero Torque. Oh, did I mention that there are lots and lots of crossovers with other Valiant characters? Well, there are.
 
Faith flies high, makes her own rules, and is a role model in her world and on the comic page and kudos to Valiant for creating such a fun, unique, and praiseworthy female hero. Let’s hope that the other publishers follow suit and start giving us heroes of all genders that the rest of us can identify with. I highly recommend this for your personal or classroom library.

​In one month’s time I will make my annual pilgrimage to the nerd promised land. For the fourth year in a row, I will be attending the biggest fan show on the East Coast, New York Comic Con. I look forward to not just absorbing waves of comics, toys, and pop culture goodness but also being part of the educational panels that they offer throughout the weekend. This year I am currently curating a number of panels (some at the Javits and some at the New York Public Library) and helping out with the educator meet and greet session (more on that to come).

It’s a fantastic event run by some really dedicated and hardworking people whose sole goal is to bring the best of geekdom to everyone who shows up…

…and a lot of people show up, believe me. 

This year, I am sitting on two panels personally but today’s post isn’t about one of them. Today’s post is about a panel that I am curating but not actually participating in directly. Interestingly enough, it’s always one of the most popular panels that we present at these large shows. We’ve offered it at Denver ComicCon, C2E2, and San Diego ComicCon. It’s always very well attended by educators and teachers in training who are looking for recommendations on which comics to teach and how to teach them.

Did you guess it yet? Come on. The title of this post must have given it away!

It’s our STEM panel, silly! For the uninitiated, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Sometimes the acronym is represented as STEAM where the additional “A” stands for Art. Either way, there are a lot of teachers out there who specialize in these subject areas who also just happen to be nerds. It makes sense to me. I think we can agree that the comic con world is full of folks who love technology, are analytic thinkers, and appreciate the visual arts. It stands to reason that so many teachers would gravitate to panels like theses. Whether you are a comic lover and a teacher or your students are comic lovers and learners, it’s a match made in heaven.
​
So, we are prepping for a new panel this year and I am thrilled to announce that an old friend who I have been pestering to make the trek to the Big Apple for the show has finally relented this year. Sitting on the panel will be the amazing Dr. Jay Hosler!

Not only is Jay a full professor of biology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, but he is an artist and author of some of the most amazing science based comics ever published. This includes The Sandwalk Adventures, Optical Allusions, Evolution, and The Last of the Sandwalkers.

​However, his first book is still my favorite. Clan Apis is the story of the life cycle of a honeybee told as a narrative with the insects as characters. What makes this book so amazing is the engaging plot that reads as biography rather than biology. We follow the exploits of Nyuki whose story begins as every bee’s does, as a larva. We see her grow into an adult honeybee and eventually… well, you will have to read it to find out.

​Hosler doesn’t cartoonize his bees. They look like real insects, as do the other flora and fauna that Nyuki encounters in her adventures. He uses subtle artistic tricks to bring emotional expression to the characters, like using their antennae as de facto eyebrows, for example. 

I introduced a biology teacher at my school to Jay’s books a few years back and she convinced the department to buy a set of the books for her classroom. As my title suggests, this is a sneaky way for you to attach some learning to reading for pleasure. It works, trust me!

​Joining Jay on the panel are Alison Wilgus and Molly Brooks who together produced an amazing book in First Second Publishing’s Science Comics line called Flying Machines. This is another really well structured look at the history of and physics behind how aircraft work. I have a really hard time keeping this one in my possession as my students and colleagues keep asking to borrow it!

We also have Joe Flood from First Second who has two of his own Science Comics books – Sharks and Dinosaurs (along with MK Reed). Again, these texts are a very accessible way to bring science to your students (and to you as well!) because of the colorful art and engaging presentation. 

The last member of the panel is Illya Kowalchuck, Director of Education for Pop Culture Classroom. Illya is a lover of comics and education, having been a math teacher before stepping out of the classroom to expand his reach to teachers, students, and school all over the country. He travels extensively as part of Pop Culture Classroom’s outreach programs. I have worked for Illya for nearly a year and can say that he is a dedicated educator who sees the value of comics in the classroom and can talk about it at length. Just check out his Ted Talk!

I’m no science teacher but I am a lover of great books. The folks on this panel know great books and how to teach with them. If you are in New York this year for the show, swing by the STEM panel on Thursday. You can find the schedule on the NYCC website very soon!

As always, follow me on Twitter @tryingteacher if you want to see when this site is updated!

Graphic novel adaptations of classic texts are always hit or miss. Some are amazing, like the work of Gareth Hinds and Dark Horse’s haunting Moby Dick book, but many are not so great, capitalizing on a craze to make a quick buck from schools who are eager to invest in this “new” medium.

I am glad to tell you that, in addition to the abovementioned works, there is a publisher that has planted their flag firmly in the canonical literature adaptation field. They are called UDON and their books are the Manga Classics line. Currently, they include Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, The Scarlet Letter, The Jungle Book, and many other titles with more being published all the time. 

Full disclosure, I have worked with these folks for quite some time and have helped them to develop instructional guides for teachers that are available for each book. This has nothing to do with why I love these texts as much as I do. If they were poorly conceived, drafted, and produced, I wouldn’t recommend them, let alone put my name on anything associated with them. 

​I can say with full confidence as a teacher and a lover of graphic novels that these books are great. I have a hard time keeping them on my classroom shelf because students are always borrowing them. They are beautifully drawn and faithful to the original text with all the themes, characters, and plot points that make these novels classics in the first place. They make teaching Jane Austin easy – and I would know. I teach Jane Eyre every year!

Among my classes is a section of AP English Literature and I plan to offer these books to my students as part of a self-selected unit where students can choose to read the graphic adaptations of approved texts on their own and respond to them. I will let you all know how that works out, but I am confident that they will love these books and increase their personal knowledge library through their use and give them more titles to draw upon when considering the AP essay questions!

​When instructing these texts, it’s important to point out that they are Manga in every sense of the word. For the uninitiated, Manga are Japanese comic books and, because of the language structure, they have to be read backwards even when translated to English. It’s not as complicated as it sounds but if you are feeling a little concerned, not to worry.  Each book has a tutorial explanation of how the reader should navigate the text. Before long, you will be zipping through the pages, admiring the artwork and engaging with the story.

My suggestion is to isolate specific themes and explore with your students how they are represented visually in the text. I often use these books or excerpts from them in conjunction with the original chapter texts as a form of scaffolding some of the more complex themes and motifs. It really does work!

​So give them a look! You can visit their website at  https://mangaclassics.com/ and see what they have to offer!

So, I am headed back to school next week and I have never been more excited to return to the classroom. With all of the new work I am doing and the fall conferences I have lined up, it’s going to be a busy but rewarding school year. I also can’t wait to get to work on the new classroom lending library that my students and I have assembled. 

Look here for progress reports and please remember to follow me on Twitter @tryingteacher right now!

Do it! Now!

@trying teacher 

I really love stories that take classic tales and modernize them or adapt them in unique and interesting ways. For example, one of my favorite takes on Macbeth is a film called Scotland, PA where the backdrop is a hamburger stand in the 70s that gets taken over by Joe McBeth and his wife after they murder the owner, a guy named Duncan. It’s better than I am making it sound here, trust me.

This type of creativity and tribute to classic characters and texts is something I enjoy. This is certainly true of The Wendy Project, a new book published by Papercutz’ Super Genius imprint. Written by Melissa Jane Osborne and illustrated by Veronica Fish, the book follows the tragic events of Wendy Davies who crashes her car and seemingly kills her youngest brother Michael. The thing is, she and her other brother John swear that they saw him fly away with a mysterious figure, leaving them behind.

​The story mixes fantasy with brutal reality as Wendy tries to convince those around her that her brother isn’t actually dead but in some other place – Neverland. This stark and emotionally candid account is peppered with iconic imagery and actual quotes from J.M. Barrie’s classic play and novel, Peter Pan, which challenges readers to discern for themselves what is real and what is psychological in Wendy's journey.

Osborne expertly uses the iconography and mythology of Peter Pan as an opportunity to confront adolescent loss and grief. Wendy’s journey is magical and psychological. She wants to find Neverland, and she does, but the journey isn’t just about getting there literally but she needs to arrive emotionally and that is where this book really shines. The events push Wendy to accept the tragedy in her life and allow herself to not just grieve, but also relinquish her guilt for what has happened.
 
I tell you, it’s pretty amazing.
 
Veronica Fish’s art is also something to crow about (see what I did there?) because it is every bit as wonderful and engaging as the story. Her deliberate and frugal use of color indicates the presence of magic, and hope. It’s brilliant, as are her panel structures, choices of perspective, and character designs. The artistic diversity here draws us further into Wendy’s psyche and allows us to believe, as she does, that Neverland is a real place in the universe of the novel.

​As a teacher, this could be used in a lot of ways. First, the hero’s journey is an obvious connection. Certainly pairing this with Peter Pan is also a no-brainer. In addition, I would put this in a graphic novel unit with I Kill Giants as the collision of the real and the supernatural in both books make for great romantic versus rationalistic literary criticism debates.

For my part, though, I think this would be a powerful text to teach in the wake of a local or national tragedy as its theme of loss and acceptance through the eyes of a broken teenage girl is well told and would give any classroom a lot to talk and write about.

This book belongs on every middle and high school teacher's bookshelf. I can see myself putting this into the hands of any student who is struggling to find him or herself in the wake of a tragic personal event. We all know that life goes on, but sometimes it just has to stop for a while and kids (and the grown-ups around them) need to know that's okay.

The Wendy Project is available now. ISBN9781629917696. Get it.
 
Follow me on Twitter! @tryingteacher

I just finished reading this amazing graphic novel called Nanjing, The Burning City by Ethan Young. Published by Dark Horse, this book explores the little known Nanjing Massacre that happened just before the start of World War II. It is starkly and unflinchingly honest about the horrors of war and visually compelling in a way that reminds me of a black and white version of Pride of Baghdad (without the animals).

The novel starts after the fall of Nanjing. The Japanese had a plan to unite all of Asia under one rule and were trying to take China by force and had bombed out the city. The few surviving civilians struggled to make it to the safe zone, with a small but glimmering hope of being reunited with loved ones.

​We follow two trapped Chinese soldiers who are trying desperately to navigate their way out of occupied territory and escape to safety (or what they hope will be safety) outside the city. Along the way, they are exposed to the horrors of war with only the words of Confucius to morally guide them. They are forced to confront the worst of themselves and mankind in general as they see what the occupying force is doing to the soldiers and civilians that cross their path.

This is where I would caution anyone who might want to bring this to a classroom. There are graphic depictions of violence, including the implication of women being assaulted. As I said, Young doesn’t pull any punches – and he shouldn’t. There’s a reason they say that war is hell and to sugar coat the reality is dangerous. Those who don’t study history… well, we all know how that goes.

So would I suggest you use this book with your students? Personally, I would absolutely bring it to my college students. As for high school, there are some red flags that you might want to keep in mind. There is one panel with nudity. It isn’t outwardly sexual or exploitative, but it’s there nonetheless. There is also a sequence where male soldiers attack a young woman. We don’t see what happens but we hear it and that may be a trigger for some students.

Ultimately, if you show your classes Schindler’s List or read Maus with them, this book will fit right in as part of a unit about the nature of war and those who suffer during and after these experiences. It has a similar tone and offers no apologies for its tone or content. It’s powerful and authentic and kept me engaged throughout.

Nanjing, The Burning City is an amazing read and should certainly be part of your personal library if not on the shelf in your classroom. The artwork is stunning and the themes are complex yet nuanced. Grab it when you can.

If you like this mini-review, be sure to check out my colleague Eric Kallenborn's web page where he is reviewing 365 graphic novels in 365 days! So amazing!

And as for me, please follow me on twitter @tryingteacher and you will know when this page updates as well as other random info about comics in the classroom!

This is an article I wrote for Pop Culture Classroom's blog about my experiences teaching comics with a focus on how they are largely believed to assist reluctant learners. While I agree that this can be the case, it doesn't have to be the starting point.

I used comics and graphic novels with all my learners, not just the ones who resist reading.

Check out the article and tell me what you think!

COMICS AND RELUCTANT LEARNERS: DISPELLING THE MYTHS
Pop Culture Classroom

Eric Kallenborn and Ronell Whitaker are Chicago area teachers who were presenting their strategies on using comics in the classroom with artist Gareth Hinds and it was everything I was looking for! They had new titles, strategies, student work - it was magnificent.

So of course we became friends. So of course we started presenting together. So of course they introduced me to their colleague Jason Nisavic who loves Rick and Morty as much as I do. So of course I met a bunch of their other friends and we brainstormed a program of our own. So of course we got noticed by the good people at Pop Culture Classroom who worked with us to develop it. 

...but that's a story for another post.

Suffice to say that, in this amazing company of Eric, Ronell, Jason, and the others - our cohort has grown exponentially. We have presented at comic cons and educational conventions all over the country. We are rolling out our lending library this fall. There's so much to share now.

So that's why I have a website now.

So I am starting a teaching blog and resource site for all the work I am doing with comics and pop culture in the classroom. If you are wondering why you might want to know what I am doing, I will tell you my credentials. I have been teaching for over 13 years and have dedicated my career to utilizing comics and graphic novels in the classroom and helping other teachers nationwide to do the same.

I have presented my strategies at educational conferences and large comic conventions all over the country including New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, NCTE, ALA, and many other events. 

I am hoping to post at least weekly, if not more frequently, so you can look to this space for book reviews, teaching guides, reflections on events and teaching experiences, student work samples, and more!