Increasing Visual Literacy and Critical Thinking Skills through Graphic Novels

Rebecca Maldonado is a recent graduate of University of Oklahoma with her doctorate in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum. This year she will be teaching ninth grade English at Parkside High School in Salisbury, MD. Her scholarship and research focuses on arts integration, graphic novels, text selection, and developing and exercising teacher’s critical consciousness, along with the use of critical dialogue to develop social awareness in education and the community. She is also the editor of Arts Integration and Young Adult Literature: Enhancing Academic Skills and Student Voice.Jason DeHart is an Assistant Professor of Reading Education at Appalachian State University and a long-time comics reader. DeHart's research interests include multimodal literacy, including film and graphic novels, and literacy instruction with adolescents. His work has recently appeared in SIGNAL Journal, English Journal,and The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.

This short edited collection by Maldonado and DeHart focuses on the legitimacy of graphic novels as an established and effective form of literature particularly useful in the development of literacy and fluency. Contributions include a brief but thorough history of graphic novels; the integration of critical literacy and visual literacy; and the essential place of graphic novels for K–12 literacy education in the classroom and multiple cultures. In addition to providing information and arguments to support the integration of graphic novels, the five chapters in part 3 include practical applications and instructional ideas for educators. These selections focus on specific and well-known YA graphic novels, including Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, and Robin Ha's Almost American Girl, among popular titles. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

• Foreword by Zachary ZajkowskiAcknowledgementsIntroduction: A Conversation about Graphic NovelsRebecca Maldonado and Jason D. DeHartSection 1 - Research & Rationale for Graphic NovelsChapter 1 - Toons, Capes, Comix, and the Graphic Novel:A History of the Sequential Arts and the Case for InclusionChristian George Gregory1700-2020: A Timeline and Influential Books in the Rise of the Graphic NovelChristian George GregoryChapter 2 - The Multiplicities of Multimodal Texts: Exploring YA Graphic Novels for Secondary ReadersMandy LuszeckSection 2 - Elements of Critical Literacy and Visual LiteracyChapter 3 - Teaching Critical Visual Literacy Through Gene Luen Yang’s Boxers and SaintsYoung Adult Literature Text: Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen YangKristen R. Strom, PhDChapter 4 - Arising LGBTQ+ Gender Awareness in High School English CurriculumPromoting Visual Literacy with the LGBTQ+ Graphic Novel: Alison Bechdel’s Fun HomeYoung Adult Literature Text: Fun Home by Alison BechdelBo Liu?? and Kexuan Wu???Chapter 5 - History Must Be a Manual: Grappling With Our Past through George Takei’s They Called Us EnemyYoung Adult Literature Text: They Called Us Enemy by George TakeiAshley D. Black and Joseph P. HaugheySection 3 - Inspiring the Hearts and Minds Through Hands-on Activities and Digital ActivitiesChapter 6 - Interrogating What It Means to be American through Decoupage: Recycled Shadow Box Art Show and Almost American Girl to Explore Personal Identity in AmericaYoung Adult Literature Text: Almost American Girl by Robin HaStephen Goss and Jennifer S. DailChapter 7 - Image, Print, and Movement: Reaching Readers through Illustrations and Flipbooks about The Last Kids on Earth: Thrilling Tales from the TreehouseYoung Adult Literature Text: The Last Kids on Earth by Max BrallierDamiana Gibbons Pyles, Eric Groce, and Adam PylesChapter 8 - Fostering Independence: Analyzing Author's Purpose in Graphic NovelsYoung Adult Literature Text: Nimona by ND StevensonAngela HaseChapter 9 - “The Overcoming of Otherness”: Teaching Visual Literacy through Ekphrastic Poetry and The ArrivalYoung Adult Literature Text: The Arrival by Shaun TanRussell MayoChapter 10- Illustrating Triple Consciousness in Melanie Gillman’s As the Crow FliesYoung Adult Literature Text: As the Crow Flies by Melanie GillmanNicole Ann Amato and Jenna SpieringAbout the EditorsAbout the Contributors