Grades 5 & 6 (Limit 20 students)

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Wednesdays 

2-3 pm

Library

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Students in grades 5 & 6 are invited to join this exploration of graphic novels. In groups of 4-5, students will read a different graphic novel each week, for 6 weeks.

 

During the first meeting, the librarian will introduce all featured titles with book talks. Groups will choose a novel each week from the provided selection of featured titles. Students will keep a journal about their thoughts while reading and discuss the novels with their groups at weekly meetings using provided questions and prompts. 

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Students will learn about the elements of graphic novels and receive a notebook of blank comic panels to explore writing their own graphic story.

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Featured Titles:

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• Suee and the Shadow, by Ginger Ly, Illustrated by Molly Park,

Translated by Keo Lee & Jane Lee (2017)

Book Talk:

Suee’s father got a job transfer, and she must change schools. She leaves Bustle Elementary and enrolls in school at Outskirtsville. She doesn’t like the kids at her knew school and decides not to make friends. Something strange is going on at Outskirtsville. Suee hears a voice and then passes out. When she wakes up, her shadow can talk. That’s not the only odd thing going on at Outskirtsville, the scary vice principal is making all the bullied kids, called “zeros,” take an afterschool class. Suee realizes the “zeros” are more like zombies and decides to try to get to the bottom of all the strangeness at Outskirtsville Elementary.

Discussion Questions:

1. How did the color choices in the illustrations contribute to the mood of the story?

2. Do you think Suee’s relationship with her family influenced how she acted towards kids at school?

3. Why do you think Suee’s own shadow was used as an antagonist?

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• Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson (2015)

​​Book Talk:

Astrid has always done everything with her best friend from elementary school, Nicole, but now it’s the summer before middle school, and it seems like they might be growing apart. Nicole decides to go to Dance Camp, and Astrid takes a chance and joins Roller Derby Camp. It’s the hardest thing she has ever done, and she has to do it on her own. Astrid isn’t sure she can make it through the summer, but she is going to strap on her skates, knee pads, and helmet and give it all she’s got!

​Discussion Questions & Prompts

1. Do best friends have to like and do all of the same things?

2. Why did Astrid lie to her mother about how she was getting home from Roller Derby Camp?

3. Can how you look affect your confidence? Do you want to be judged by how you look?

4. Choose a Roller Derby name for yourself and share.

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• The Night Librarian, ​by Christopher Lincoln (2024)

​​Book Talk:

Twins, Page and Turner Reed, are often left on their own while their mom and dad travel the world searching for rare books. Page and Turner spend a lot of their free time at the New York Public Library. One day they bring one of their dad’s rare books with them to the library and it goes missing. The night librarian agrees to help them find their book but when they spend time in the library after hours, they realize that something unusual is happening. Book characters are escaping their books, and these heroes and villains are causing chaos. Suddenly, Turner and Page find themselves in a race to save the library from total destruction.

​Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1. Do you think that the Night Librarian underestimated the twins?

2. What book character would you want to meet in real life?

3. How did Turner learn to trust himself?

4. What did you think about Page and Turner’s parents?

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• Ghosts, by Raina Telgemeier (2016)

Book Talk:

Cat’s family has to move away from sunny, southern California to Bahía de la Luna, a windy, coastal town in the north. Cat’s sister Maya is sick--she has cystic fibrosis, which can make breathing difficult. Bahía de la Luna is supposed to be better for Maya. The town is different; it’s a little creepy there. Bahía de la Luna is haunted. The people who live there befriend ghosts and honor them each year with an El Día de los Muertos celebration. Both Cat and Maya struggle with the idea of death in their own ways. Maya wants to go to the party, but can’t because of her illness. Cat is afraid and doesn't want anything to do with the ghosts. Will Cat have the courage to face her fears and meet ghosts?

Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1. Why do you think Maya was so interested in meeting ghosts?

2. How would you feel about living in a haunted town?

3. Do you have any cultural traditions or beliefs that are important to you and your family?

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• ​Pearl, by Sherri L. Smith (2024)

​​Book Talk:

​Amy is a first-generation Japanese-American living in Hawaii in the 1940s. When Amy's great-grandmother becomes ill, Amy must travel to Japan to be with her extended family. While Amy is in Japan, she learns about her Japanese heritage. WWII heightens and Amy can't go home. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. The Japanese take Amy to the city and use her as a translator to spy on American radio transmissions. Everything feels wrong and confusing. She feels like an outsider in Japan and misses her family, but she learns of the terrible way the US is treating Japanese-Americans. She feels like she has lost her identity. And just when she thinks things can't get any worse, the US drops an atomic bomb on Japan. Will Amy survive?

Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1.  Amy felt conflicted about her identity as a Japanese-American. There were times when she felt betrayed by both America and Japan. Have you ever felt something similar?​

2. Why do you think the author placed focus on pearl diving? What could opening a pearl represent?

3. How do you think the author used art to convey all of the emotions that Amy felt?

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• Knots, by Colleen Frakes (2024)

Book Talk:

​Norah dreamed of having long blonde hair like her best friend. She begs her mom to let her dye her hair. The only problem is that she can't afford to go to a salon, she only has enough money to buy a kit from the grocery store. It is a disaster and Norah starts middle school tomorrow! She covers the bad blonde with blue and tries to make the best of it. At school, she has a brand new teacher who does things a little differently. At home, Norah's family is stressed out. Her mom has to transfer jobs and moves to a different town. Her dad got a promotion, works long hours, and now Norah is on her own most of the time. Find out how Norah navigates middle school and taking care of herself.

Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1. How did adult problems affect Norah?​

2. Does it add pressure to be identified as the "good kid"?

3. What would you choose to present if you had a project about your culture?

4. What did you think about the family's decision to start over in a new city?

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• The Other Side of Tomorrow, by Tina Cho (2024)

Book Talk:

This is the story of two children from North Korea who escape their country because it is ruled by a brutal dictator. This isn't ancient history, this book is set in 2013. It is a story of Asia's Underground Railroad, groups of people secretly helping others to escape North Korea and find a better life. Yunho and Myunghee both cross the river that separates North Korea and China. They didn't know each other in North Korea, but their paths cross in China and together they endure many challenges as they journey across four countries, through cities and jungles, risking their lives for freedom.

Discussion Questions and Prompts:

1. How is the Asian Underground Railroad similar to the Underground Railroad that took place in America?

2. Halmoni said "the walls have ears" to Yunho. What did she mean?

3. How did Yunho feel about Myunghee traveling with him and omma? Did his feelings change?

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• How it All Ends, by Emma Hunsinger (2024)

Book Talk:

Tara is just finishing 7th grade when she is called into the principal's office. The principal tells Tara that she has been chosen to skip 8th grade and move straight to High School so that she can be challenged academically. Tara feels completely unprepared, she's not ready for the chaos of high school. She's not ready to give up who she was in middle school. She feels lost and alone, until she meets Libby. Tara can't explain what it is that she likes about Libby. She over thinks every interaction. How will it end?

Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1. How would you feel if tomorrow the principal called you in and told you that you would skip the next grade?

2. How do you think Tara uses her imagination to cope with her fears?

3. How did the author use color to distinguish between reality and Tara's imagination?​

4. Can you relate to Tara's overthinking and worrying?

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• Ant Story, by Jay Hosler (2024)

Book Talk:

​Rubi is the only ant in her colony who can talk. She spends her days imagining conversations between her and her sisters. Until one day when another ant finally talks back. Rubi and her new best friend set off and you will realize very quickly that almost everything is a life or death risk when you are an ant. Join this unlikely pair of friends as they struggle to survive against wasps, death tongues, parades of army ants, and flies that lay their eggs inside of ant heads.

Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1. ​Which bug did you find most interesting? Which was grossest?

2. Can you imagine if you were the only person who could talk?

3. Would you risk your life for the chance at friendship?​

4. ​What is one interesting bug fact that you learned?

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• ​One Trick Pony, by Nathan Hale  (2018)

​Book Talk:

​The world as we know it does not exist in One Trick Pony. Aliens, called Pipers, steal all modern technology from humans and leave them to live primitive lives. One group of humans has been trying to save relics of technology and hope to one day restore the world to the way it was. They must constantly outrun the Pipers in their moving caravan village. A group of teens, Strata, her brother Auger, and their friend Inby, scout for unfound tech and find a robot horse. The Pipers are also searching for tech and when the groups encounter one another, things take a turn for the worse. The teens try to run away to survive, but they end up in an epic battle. Will the humans be victorious?

Discussion Questions & Prompts:​

1. How do you imagine a world without technology?

2. What did Pick mean by "they are stealing our future"?

3. Why do you think the author choose a limited color scheme for this story?

 

• The Real Riley Mayes, by Rachel Elliott (2022)

Book Talk:​

Fifth grade is hard and making friends is harder. Riley just wants to be herself. She loves to draw and thinks everything comedian Joy Powers does is hilarious. Riley feels like no one really gets her. Her parents agree to let Riley take art class if she completes her school work and keeps out of trouble. Riley's teacher gives the students a letter writing assignment where they must write to a person that they admire. Riley chooses Joy Powers and finds the pressure of the assignment to be almost too much. She tries to navigate friendships with her classmate Cate and new kid, Aaron, while completing her schoolwork and coming to terms with her unexpected crush. She makes a lot of mistakes and learns how to be a good friend without changing who she is.

Discussion Questions & Prompts:

1. Do friendships change as we get older?

2. Imagine what your "best-day-ever" would be like.​

3. Who would you choose to write to if your teacher gave the letter assignment?​

 

Dates:

April 8, 2026

April 15, 2026

April 22, 2026

April 29, 2026

May 6, 2026

May 13, 2026

May 20, 2026

May 27, 2026

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​Meeting Agenda:

• ​Snack

• Graphic Novel Element

• Discussion

• Choose Next Book

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Marketing & Promotion:

The librarian will introduce the program to 5th & 6th grade classes during weekly Library Visits beginning in March. Official sign-ups will be from March 16-20. Flyers will be posted throughout upper grade common areas, bathrooms, and classrooms, as well as in the cafeteria and main office. Flyers will also be sent communicated to families through school social media and communications platforms.

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​​Snack:

Students will be served potato chips or popcorn and CapriSuns. 

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​Materials:

• Wide-Ruled Composition Notebooks​

• Blank Comic Panel Notebooks

• Felt Tip Markers

• Pencils

• Colored Pencils

• Pencil Sharpener

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Staffing & Support:

No additional staffing needed. 

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Total Expenses: $104

Detailed Budget Information

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​References

Kirkus (2025)

Telgemeier (2016)

Ypsilanti District Library (2021)