Week 4: Graphic Novels

For my last graphic novel, I listened to the audio version because I kept getting lost when I was reading. For this graphic novel, I wanted to read it in its entirety, but I'm 31 pages into the 136-page book and I already have a headache. I feel like a student who struggles with fluency. Due to the font, I can't tell the difference between a period and a comma, so I keep having to reread the sentences for them to make sense. Also, all the letters in the words being capitalized makes it harder for me to distinguish between the letters. Not to mention the "weird" way it isn't exactly read left to right, depending on how big each picture is. This process has been very confusing, to say the least, but I am going to muster through. I say all of this to ask, did anyone else struggle while reading the graphic novels this week? I definitely have a new respect for people who can read them fluently! It has also given me insight into how incredibly difficult it can be to switch to a new format of reading and why even strong readers may be apprehensive about trying a typical novel instead of a graphic novel. I actually ended up messaging my librarian to talk to her about my experience and how I see things from a new perspective after trying it for myself. 

Anyway, on to my second book of the week. I've always wanted to read the Percy Jackson series because it is near to my heart. My brother was not a reader in the slightest until he read this series. Rick Riordan's writing helped him get through a tough time in his life and since then, I have always kept this series in my classroom library.

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is the first book of a six-book series. The book starts out on a class field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Percy is having issues with one of the students, and his algebra teacher, Ms. Dobbs, turns into a magical creature and attacks him. After the attack, Percy is told that he's in danger and is taken to a camp for half-human/half-god children, where he learns that his father is Poseidon and that Zeus's thunderbolt has gone missing. He goes on a quest to find the real thief with two friends, Annabeth and Grover. They end up finding the thunderbolt and Percy returns it to Zeus. 

I love that at the beginning of the book, they openly discuss Percy's ADHD and dyslexia. They aren't seen as deficits either. Instead, it is pointed out that his brain is wired differently for him to achieve his fate. I do feel like there were a lot of details left out. It felt like the characters were jumping from one scene to another. I know that is the purpose of an adapted graphic novel, but as a reader, I need more. I haven't read the original novel, but I could see this being a good book study for a group of reluctant readers. The teacher could hold a book club and read the full novel version as a group, then assign the graphic novel to be read independently. Once everyone has finished the books, the book club should come back together to discuss the similarities and differences. I would also challenge them to watch the movie (if grade-level appropriate) and have them decide, from a director's standpoint, what scenes should have been included or not included. 

I'm not sure I would recommend the graphic novel because it has the God of wine and how he fell in love with someone he was told not to. I feel like the alcohol and the forbidden love aspect are both too mature for my fourth graders, but I believe it would be acceptable for sixth grade and above.