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librarinamama 's review for:
The Giver (Graphic Novel)
by Lois Lowry
I often credit one of my adjunct professors from grad school, Joyce Laiosa, with helping me discover my love for YA books. Every book on her syllabus was carefully chosen to represent its genre so that we would have an appreciation for the depth and breadth of YA Literature. In fact, I routinely tell people that I consider Joyce to be my Fairy Godmother in Libraryland because she is also the person who first got me involved with the Youth Services Section (YSS) of the NY Library Association (NYLA). And though she has technically retired from librarianship, Joyce remains active in YSS/NYLA (and ALA), and I do my best to attend all of the webinars and local workshops she teaches because I want to soak up everything she has to share. I am definitely more of a novel reader, but I appreciate the need to be aware of graphic novels and do my best to stay aware of popular titles and publishing trends, so I recently attended Joyce's continuing education workshop about graphic novels. I am so grateful for the extensive list of graphic novels she provided and will do my best to work my way through that list over the next year. I am happy to report that this graphic novel, the first I chose from her list, was simply amazing.
Not only did the artist, P. Craig Russell, do a wonderful job of staying true to the original story, but his artwork was absolutely stunning. There is a note at the end of the book that explains the very conscious choices he made with regard to color palette and style, and I think these choices, though seemingly subtle, made a huge impact on his telling of the story. The way that he gradually introduced colors, for example, was a great visual representation of the way that Jonah's perception changed as a result of receiving memories. This was a fantastic way to revisit the story, and I think it is so well fleshed out that readers who haven't read the novel will still be able to immerse themselves in the story without missing anything Lois Lowry intended.
Happy Reading!
Not only did the artist, P. Craig Russell, do a wonderful job of staying true to the original story, but his artwork was absolutely stunning. There is a note at the end of the book that explains the very conscious choices he made with regard to color palette and style, and I think these choices, though seemingly subtle, made a huge impact on his telling of the story. The way that he gradually introduced colors, for example, was a great visual representation of the way that Jonah's perception changed as a result of receiving memories. This was a fantastic way to revisit the story, and I think it is so well fleshed out that readers who haven't read the novel will still be able to immerse themselves in the story without missing anything Lois Lowry intended.
Happy Reading!