Adrian Tomine, self-portrait

Newsmaker: Adrian Tomine

July 21, 2020

What pulls you toward recording the embarrassing side of things? I guess it’s two things. One is that no one would want a book about what a wonderful and exciting career I’ve had. And I also don’t think that the two are mutually exclusive. It might be useful to some people to think that both … Continue reading Newsmaker: Adrian Tomine


Making Comics History: Malaka Gharib and Tasha Spillet-Sumner

This Moment in Comics

June 29, 2020

With Tasha Spillett-Sumner, author of the Surviving the City graphic novel series, Gharib discussed the role of the comics industry in this historic moment of uprisings against white supremacy and structural inequality at “A Comics History in the Making,” moderated by Alea Perez, president of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Graphic Novels and Comics Round … Continue reading This Moment in Comics




A librarian uses a Bee Bot at Do the Bot—Librarians Using Robots to Impact Learning at AASL 2019. Photo: Phil Morehart

The Standards at Work

November 19, 2019

Tech time At “Do the Bot: Librarians Using Robots to Impact Learning,” Archon Auzenne, Lee Glover, and Gloria Miller, librarians from Clear Creek Independent School District in League City, Texas, demonstrated how different types of robots can be used to teach students programming and coding. After learning how Bee Bot, Edison, and Sphero robots work, … Continue reading The Standards at Work


Raina Telgemeier (Photo: Joseph Fanvu Photography)

Newsmaker: Raina Telgemeier

September 3, 2019

Telgemeier has also written two fictional graphic novels (Drama and Ghosts), four illustrated adaptions of The Baby-Sitters Club series, and the new interactive journal Share Your Smile. American Libraries spoke with Telgemeier about her creative process, how graphic novelists became champions for unrepresented voices in publishing, and her advice for aspiring artists. You wrote two … Continue reading Newsmaker: Raina Telgemeier


George Takei

Newsmaker: George Takei

July 17, 2019

Why did you choose to tell your story as a graphic novel? It’s been my mission in life to tell the story of my childhood imprisonment and to raise awareness of that chapter of American history. There’s a new generation of young people, and we want to target them in the best way. I thought … Continue reading Newsmaker: George Takei


History Repeats Itself

June 24, 2019

“I feel like I’m at a Star Trek convention,” he said in his trademark baritone, before laughing heartily. Takei’s tone changed, however, as he began to describe a childhood spent in internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II—an experience that he details in his new YA graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy. With a … Continue reading History Repeats Itself


Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler

A New Twist on an Old Tale

June 23, 2019

In a talk moderated by Todd Krueger, 2019–2020 president-elect of the Young Adult Library Services Association, Miller and Wheeler explained the genesis of the project. Miller said that as a kid, after discovering Superman, his other big love was Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. That continuing fascination was a driving factor in wanting to … Continue reading A New Twist on an Old Tale


Julia Billet and her translator, Wilfrid Lupano, Ezra Claytan Daniels, and Amy Chu

The Words Behind the Images

June 23, 2019

Moderator Heidi MacDonald, editor-in-chief of comic industry blog The Beat, began by asking the panelists to describe the inspirations behind their most well-known works. Speaking through a translator, French writer Julia Billet said that the story detailed in her graphic novel Catherine’s War, which follows a young Jewish girl during WWII as she journeys across France … Continue reading The Words Behind the Images