PAGE 16 OF THE GRAPHIC MEMOIR "FORGET SORROW"
A graphic novel may help your reluctant reader appreciate books, but it is NOT a bicycle with training wheels. It is an art form to be read and valued in its own right.
Remember, words in caption and word bubbles may not always interpret the art and vice versa. The words and images may contradict, contrast and counterpoint.
For those of you who have not experienced a graphic novel, for those who find it new and the graphics and words haphazard compared to columns of prose, it will take you a bit of time to cultivate your interest in comics, just as you will like opera the more you are exposed to it.
Belle Yang drawing her comic book in a Youtube video
Prepub Reviews:
Comic Buyer's Guide (new today)
About Belle
Belle Yang, subject of the PBS documentary, “My Name is Belle,” is often asked whether she is primarily a writer or a painter. Answer: "When I'm writing, I'm a writer; when I'm painting, I'm a painter." Is she a children's author or writers of adult...
Connections
Causes Belle Yang Supports
826 Valencia Street
Belle is a fan of
Graphic Novels are their own format
Hi Belle,
Graphic Novels should not even be shelved with books at the bookstore or the library as they are like films in hardcover. When you see graphic novels with books, imagine filing them with films or talking books. The graphic novels contain a story in an apple format and books contain them in a pineapple format. The stories may be the same in them, but the presentation varies greatly.
I would also add that foreign-language speakers can pick up conversational English quickly with graphic novels, because the images allow them to decode vocabulary in context. They are low-stakes language learning tools - no one to laugh at your accent or inability to find words.
The Japanese have named the visual generation of the 21st century Shikaku Sedai - thanks Chris Kohler for the vocabulary. We might as well all get ready for it as it is already here for our young people. I just hope that it does not resemble Ray Bradbury's story The Veldt.
Ruth :)
Okay, I am borrowing your great terms, Ruthie:
"The graphic novels contain a story in an apple format and books contain them in a pineapple format."
When I get through with this phase of publcity, I want to make a trip to Japantown, SF, where I can pick up some manga. I want to relearn Japanese.
Take me with you!
Hi Belle,
I'll go t o Japan Town! I have some great Japanese textbooks. One is a little above my head right now - it's all about Japanese literature. I'll get there in a year if I start revising Japanese now. You're welcome to borrow it if you'd like. You're ahead of me on kanji.
Did I tell you I'm working on Vietnamese, too. They have an alphabet and many French cognates. I would like to study the Vietnamese imperial art of the ancient capital at Hue. So much to do in just one lifetime.
But, first I must read/see/experience your graphic novel. I think synthesize is the best word to describe the experience of graphic novels. Both sides of your brain have to work together, making it a holistic experience.
There's a Horn book article dedicated to graphic novels that is really good. I don't know the date and month, but it deals with all these topics more in-depth. By the way, is Atlantis Fantasy World in Santa Cruz carrying your GN. They are the GN and comic book mecca of the Central Coast. Ruthie :)
Just received
a rave review in "Comic Buyer's Guide" so I hope lots of stores will have it.
If you find out how I can access Horn book article, please let me know. Sounds like an important read.
Horn book article on GNs below
Oh, I love Horn Book. Their archive is a treasure trove of youth literature information.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/articles/2006/mar06_brenner.asp
Have fun.
Ruth
Woohoo
Thanks a million! xx
Would like to share this on my Facebook page
Belle,
Do you have any other insights to include? I'd like to share this on my Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Best,
Ruth
Not at this moment
I'm all insighted out ;)
Ready to share!
Time to go viral!
Ruth :)
Belle, it is great to see
Belle, it is great to see your work and world unfurl. It is magic when you can recreate your own history with such dexterous strokes and words that cut out the fluff and reach the core.
Thank you for these moments.
~F
Thanks, Farzana
I had to turn a prose memoir and condense and boil and make even more dense, so it truly felt like an act of poetry. I hope you are happy and well in your own creative life.
x