Graphic novels | Daddy Mojo

Exposures, a graphic novel on OCD and life you didn’t know you needed

Don’t feel guilty for enjoying a graphic novel about a medical condition. Exposures: A Story About Life with OCD and the Power of Facing Your Fears is an unlikely graphic novel about life. Its protagonist is Peyton, who has a sister, Taylor, with the two living with their parents in the mountains. Peyton is growing older and realizes she’s not like other girls. She obsesses over things that keep her from living a more normal life. She has to touch things a certain number of times. She has a constant fear that her sister or family are going to die in the near future. Peyton realistically thinks her food is poisoned, doesn’t like change and has anxiety that is crippling at times. If you’re in high school, the preceding sentences describe you or someone you know. Exposures is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel by Lily Williams.

Exposures, a graphic novel about a teen with OCD and her life is on par with Maus and El Deafo on the medium’s ability to deftly handle realistic issues.

More helpful than the self-help books you’ve read

Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories, early graphic novel keeps it real

Elementary school-age kids want to read. Girls actively want to read and get it done, whereas boys want to read as long as their friends don’t catch them and the book has that factor. That factor can vary to the water cooler book of the playground to being laden with fart jokes (which also puts it in that first category), or maybe it’s just really funny for those ages. The secret sauce towards getting guys to read is more challenging than it is to get girls to open a book. Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories is the sort of early reader graphic novel that speaks to younger ages. Pre-k kids through middle school who are looking for a graphic novel that has multiple, short stories in it will grin and enjoy it. It’s loaded with anthropomorphic animals who live in a coast town where everything is chill.

Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories, a graphic novel for young readers that teaches life lessons in a way that’s not preachy and retains life’s energy and fun.

Soft, real, and earnest lessons through humor

Jazzy the Witch in Friend Fiasco is an early go-to girl’s graphic novel

Jazzy is a witch who likes to ride bicycles. She likes to ride real bicycles. These are the pedal-powered bicycles that depend on centripetal force for their turns and are 100% reliant on people to move forward. Jazzy is also a lot like most kids in elementary school. Friend Fiasco is the second book in the Jazzy the Witch series and is just the charming, low-key, comfort reading that kids in mid through upper-elementary school want to read.

Jazzy the Witch in Friend Fiasco is the second in a very cute graphic novel series for early elementary school and up with puns, action and a soft lesson or two.

Early elementary girls, this one’s for you

A Fishboy Named…Sashimi, starts a beautiful, early graphic novel friendship

Dan Santat is an author whom elementary-aged students know. Dan Santat is an illustrator whom elementary-age students know. By the time kids enter elementary school, they’ve read at least two illustrated books from Dan Santat and one of his graphic novels. * His name is as ubiquitous in children’s literature as Michael Connelly or James Patterson are for adult readers of a certain type. A Fishboy Named…Sashimi is an early reader graphic novel from Dan Santat that does what his fans expect and continues in a strange, new, wonderful direction.

A Fishboy Named…Sashimi is by children’s author rockstar Dan Satat and continues his knack for knowing what early readers want in a graphic novel.

Add another one to the must-read fire for elementary ages

Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is why kids read

There’s a 1 on the spine of Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him. Jake Spooky is a punk rock ghost. He’s got the surly soul of today’s teens and throws up wolves, at least in this first book does that. Jake lives with Brand-O, a cool, flip-flop-wearing human with an old-school television as his head and an upright walking cat who doesn’t speak much, named Quincy. Elementary school graphic novel readers-Are you not entertained? If a graphic novel were a character in a movie, then Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is Maximus Decimus. Its absurd, playful content gleefully runs circles around other early reader, graphic novels. Amidst all of this running, it still has the bandwidth to ask an obvious question, and yes, we are.

Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him has the gross-out, absurd, LOL goods that can turn reluctant elementary school readers re-think their ways.

Yes, yes we are, part deux

SquirrelLock Holmes: The Pet Rock Mystery, pun, silly fun for elementary

Elementary school-age children may not know Sherlock Holmes. They certainly haven’t read the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Those young ages might’ve seen A Hard Day’s Knight, Season 1, Episode 10 of Phineas and Ferb that paid homage to The Hound of Baskervilles, but they probably didn’t catch the reference. Slightly older audiences will know Enola Holmes, which will hopefully lead them to the BBC series Sherlock, among others. But I digress…SquirrelLock Holmes: The Pet Rock Mystery is an early reader graphic novel that’s firmly locked into its core audience.

SquirrelLock Holmes: The Pet Rock Mystery is a chapter book with graphic novel sensibilities, or vice versa, and provides the silly stamina to keep up with early elementary school boys.

Look what you first and second-grade readers found…

Weirdo, uses real-life against a graphic novel setting with heart and fun

Middle school has the potential to suck. Countless variables determine if you find your people early or meander through three years of school and life. By eighth grade you’re certainly ready for high school, but is it because you hit the wall or you’re ready a bigger, more appropriate challenge? There is a lot of that in Weirdo. I also feel a lot of ‘reviewer’s remorse’ now because Weirdo has been silently judging me from my book queue for a while.

Weirdo is a ‘real’ look at changes kids have through middle school, but done with life’s learned lessons, humor, geek stuff and great art.

Heroes are weird/We are all heroes

A Blurmp in Time, continues the Catwad must-read graphic novel streak for elementary ages

A Blurmp in Time (Catwad’s Friend Blurmp #1) is kind of like Catwad, but with more fart jokes. No, that’s not it. A Blurmp in Time is about everything and nothing, and succeeds on both fronts. That’s not it either.A Blurmp in Time is not entirely devoted of fart jokes. There is one moment where Blurmp saves his friend’s bacon by passing gas; but enough about breakfast meat. Let’s back up for just a moment. Blurmp is Catwad’s best friend, inasmuch as a grumpy cat who doesn’t like anything can have something it likes.

A Blurmp in Time unhinges Catwad’s friend in a time-traveling graphic novel (that kids will want to read) for ages seven and up.

Blurmp, take home and lose me forever