I have chosen these trade books for a 11th grade English Class. The unit's theme is magic realism found in contemporary literature. Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys is a 2006 YALSA ALEX award winning novel. The collection of magical-realist comics by Gilbert Hernandez, Heartbreak Soup: Love and Rockets, is a cult classic that follows the inhabitants of a fictional, Mexican town. Bowers' Magic(al) Realism is a text to help the students understand the history and elements of magic realism. Through this variety of texts, students will be able to identify magical realism in literature, as well as film & media.
Gaiman, N. (2006). Anansi Boys. New York: Harper Collins
Bowers, M.A. (2004). Magic(al) Realism (The New Critical Idiom). New York: Routledge
Hernandez, G. (2007). Heartbreak Soup: Love and Rockets. Seattle: Fantagraphic Books
Heartbreak Soup would definitely not be allowed at my conservative school! It's amazing how images can provoke much stronger reactions to a story. (also, I now have "So Alive" by the band Love and Rockets in my head - good song)
ReplyDeleteHi, Christen. You have the official OK for your three trade books. KB
ReplyDeleteAnother great suggestion for a magical realism would be "WAS" by Geoff Ryman. This novel unfolds over the course of the entirety of the 20th century, showing the origins and effects of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Extremely dark in tone but sentimental to the core, the book is a great meta-textual exercise in examining the powers of great art, both imagined and corporeal.
ReplyDeleteI also started reading "Love and Rockets" during college and I think it's an excellent suggestion to start kids down the road of using graphic novels as academic texts. Have you considered any of the modern ongoing works such as Bill Willingham's "Fables" or Mike Carey's "The Unwritten"?
Another great possibility would be the excellent "Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzuchelli, the artist behind the Year One run of Batman books with Frank Miller.