While some students complain about the books they are assigned to read in English class, others are in the library, eager to pick up a new book.
Sometimes, however, these books aren’t so traditional. Graphic novels have become increasingly popular in our library this year, primarily with the freshmen class.
“Reading a graphic novel is a more visual experience, so I think that students enjoy the artwork and less text,” Media Specialist Heather Fields said. “There’s also, in terms of graphic novels, a huge online library of graphics that students read. So they start a series in print version, and they can get to the fan fiction or a different version online.”
Fields has noticed that readers have a few favorites.
“The Naruto series is really popular. The Bleach series is popular. And then, a lot of times students will read the graphic versions of books that they’ve already read, for example: Twilight or Maximum Ride,” Fields said.
Graphic novels appeal to students for a variety of reasons. Freshman Leslie Gibson likes how they support her reading.
“They grab my attention really well, and I always know where I’m at by the pictures,” Gibson said.
Freshman James Golden recommends graphic novels to readers to “help them understand and get a picture in their head of what the story is really telling you.”
Golden gravitates towards adventure and mystery novels.
“My favorite would be the Alex Rider series because it has lots of mystery and adventure. He goes undercover and stuff like that,” Golden said.
With the help of the media, dystopian society novels have also been growing in popularity over the past few years.
“Everyone kind of likes this whole ‘the world is going to end’ thing. We have a whole bunch of movies based off of that plot. They’re interesting and have action and a little romance, so they kind of have everything,” junior Chardell Hodges said.
Junior Kaitlin Grigg also finds dystopian works appealing.
“With realistic novels, you can connect to them. But dystopian novels open your imagination. It’s probably a little more interesting to read, and it keeps your mind going,” Grigg said.
Whether students are reading graphic novels, dystopian novels or anything in-between, the love for books is still there.
“It’s an escape from everything. When I read, I basically become part of the story,” Grigg said. “There was this one book I was reading, and I was sitting across the stairs and my grandma was upstairs, and I finished the book, and she was downstairs. I have no idea how she got past me. I just become part of the story.”