The Gator’s Eye has created a recurring feature that gives students books that Green Level’s librarians have read or recommend for our quarantine. Last week we covered the genres of Sports, Historical Fiction, and Nonfiction. If you would like to see some books in those areas then you can see our previous article from last week! 

This week we will be covering the genre of Graphic Novels. For those of you who don’t know, graphic novels are books that are filled with comic content. These books can be fiction, nonfiction, and anthologized works. Ms. Reeves, one of our Librarians at Green Level, has given me several recommendations from our digital Library on Follett. She suggested the books Soupy Leaves Home, written by Cecil Castellucci, illustrated by Jose Pimienta; SMASH! Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe with the Large Hadron Collider written by Sara Latta, illustrated by Jeff Weigel; Strange Fruit, Volume 1: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, words and pictures by Joel Christian Gill ; foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Strange Fruit, Volume II: More Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History words and pictures by Joel Christian Gill, foreword by Dr. Regina N. Bradley. 

Soupy Leaves Home is about a young girl named Pearl during the 1930s who is escaping from her home and her abusive father. When she thinks that there is nowhere else to turn she finds some boy clothes and cuts her hair and is reborn as a boy named Soupy. She meets a hobo named Ramshackle, and the old man takes her under his wing. But he has just as many demons as she does, and has to rely on her just as she relies on him. In this book we get to follow their journey.

SMASH! follows the journey of two cousins from the United States who visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research. There they learn about the Large Hadron Collider, and throughout their tour they chat about the mysteries of particle physics and the building blocks of matter. 

Strange Fruit, Volumes I and II, are about the uncelebrated narratives of black history. They tell the stories of Henry “Box” Brown, who escaped slavery by mailing himself to Philadelphia; Cathay Williams, the only known female Buffalo Soldier; and Eugene Bullard, a fighter pilot who flew for France during World War I. These books are educational and show people who really went against the “standards” for race and changed our world today. 

All these books and more can be found in the Follett library and also in the Wake County Public Library’s catalog. Feel free to go on their website and see what they have for check out (https://catalog.wakegov.com/). Don’t waste your time, find a book and enjoy your quarantine!