Hey YA Readers! I love the trends we’re seeing when it comes to adaptation of YA books to comics and adaptation of comics into YA books. It makes these stories accessible to so many more readers, while offering a chance to test the waters in a new format that might otherwise feel off-putting to some readers. Let’s take a peek today at a handful of YA books that have been reimagined as comics in recent years (as well as one that will be coming out early in 2021). Descriptions from ‘zon, since I’ve only read one of these so far. I’m itching to get my hands on the rest of them, you better believe it. So much great reading. If you’ve read the novel, I recommend visiting that story in its visual format, and if you’ve loved the comic, I recommend revisiting as a novel. Jeremy Heere is your average high school dork. Day after day, he stares at beautiful Christine, the girl he can never have, and dryly notes the small humiliations that come his way. Until the day he learns about the “squip.” A pill-sized supercomputer that you swallow, the squip is guaranteed to bring you whatever you most desire in life. By instructing him on everything from what to wear, to how to talk and walk, the squip transforms Jeremy from geek to the coolest guy in class. Soon he is friends with his former tormentors and has the attention of the hottest girls in school. But Jeremy discovers that there is a dark side to handing over control of your life — and it can have disastrous consequences. Dead. Will feels a sadness so great, he can’t explain it. But in his neighborhood, there are THE RULES: No. 1: Crying. Don’t. No matter what. No. 2: Snitching. Don’t. No matter what. No. 3: Revenge. Do. No matter what. But bullets miss. You can get the wrong guy. And there’s always someone else who knows to follow the rules…
Guy A. Sims, the acclaimed author of the Brotherman series of comic books, collaborated with his brother, the illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, in this thrilling black-and-white graphic novel adaption of Monster. Monster was the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award recipient, an ALA Best Book, a Coretta Scott King Honor selection, and a National Book Award finalist. Monster is also now a major motion picture called All Rise starring Jennifer Hudson, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Nas, and A$AP Rocky.
