NEWSPRINTS - Diamond Bookshelf | Graphic Novel News ...€¦ · ings, encourage members to book...
1
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholasc Inc. Art copyright © 2017 by Ru Xu. ISBN 978-0-545-80311-3 hardcover ISBN 978-0-545-80312-0 paperback NEWSPRINTS Ru Xu Blue is an orphan who disguises herself as a newsboy. She loves living and working at the Bugle, the only paper in town that tells the truth. But Blue struggles with her secret and worries that if her friends and adopted family at the Bugle find out that she’s a girl, she’ll lose everything and everyone she cares about. When she meets and befriends Crow, a boy who is also not what he seems, they seek the freedom to be their true selves . . . and to save each other from the effects of war. About the Creator Ru Xu was born in Beijing, grew up in Indianapolis, and received a degree in sequenal art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She is the creator of the popular webcomic Saint for Rent. NewsPrints is her first graphic novel. Discussion Questions/Talking Points • Graphic novels typically contain some or all of the following: panels, word balloons, sound effects, moon lines, narraon, and background colors. Find examples of as many of these elements as possible in this book. • How do you read a graphic novel? Panel by panel? Pictures first and then text? Text first and then pictures? There is no single “right” way. Compare your approach with a classmate’s. • Look at pages 44–45. What do you learn from just the text on these pages? What do you learn from just the images? What adjecves would you use to describe Blue and Crow? • The graphic arst chooses what to include in each panel and how the panels appear on each page. Read pages 11 and 47 and pay parcular aenon to the last panel on each page. How does the arst encourage the reader to turn the page in these two instances? On page 47, also noce the perspecve from which we view each panel. How does it shiſt from frame to frame? What effect does this have? • Not all of the panels in this graphic novel are the same size. Read pages 40–41, when Crow falls from the roof and Blue saves him. What effect do the varied sizes and increased number of panels per page have on the pacing of the story in this scene? Turn to page 42. Why do you think the arst chose to use a larger panel in the middle of the page to show Crow safely on the floor? How does that decision affect the pacing here? Extension Activities • Create panels and dialogue for a new scene in the novel. Perhaps Blue gets caught by the rival gang of newsies, or Blue introduces Crow to Muffy. • The world the author creates in NewsPrints is similar to the late 1800s in the United States, when orphan “newsies” sold papers on the street corners, but the author adds addional elements to that world that take her story from historical ficon to fantasy. Try your hand at world building. Imagine the landscape and weather, what the inhabitants wear and do, the polical systems, and modes of transportaon. Write a descripon of your world in a few paragraphs and draw a picture of it. • Start a graphic novel club with fellow students who especially enjoy this literary form. At monthly meet- ings, encourage members to book talk graphic novels they’ve read since the last meeng. Create “Great Graphics!” forms for students in the club to fill out to recommend individual tles. Post them in the school library for other students to see. AN IMPRINT OF Some quesons revised from Scholasc’s A Guide to Using Graphic Novels with Children and Teens, which can be found at www.scholasc.com/discussionguides. www.scholasc.com/graphix
Transcript of NEWSPRINTS - Diamond Bookshelf | Graphic Novel News ...€¦ · ings, encourage members to book...
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. Art copyright © 2017 by Ru Xu.
ISBN 978-0-545-80311-3 hardcover
ISBN 978-0-545-80312-0 paperback
NEWSPRINTSRu XuBlue is an orphan who disguises herself as a newsboy. She loves living and working at the Bugle, the only paper in town that tells the truth. But Blue struggles with her secret and worries that if her friends and adopted family at the Bugle find out that she’s a girl, she’ll lose everything and everyone she cares about. When she meets and befriends Crow, a boy who is also not what he seems, they seek the freedom to be their true selves . . . and to save each other from the effects of war.
About the Creator Ru Xu was born in Beijing, grew up in Indianapolis, and received a degree in sequential art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She is the creator of the popular webcomic Saint for Rent. NewsPrints is her first graphic novel.
Discussion Questions/Talking Points• Graphic novels typically contain some or all of the following: panels, word balloons, sound effects, motion lines, narration, and
background colors. Find examples of as many of these elements as possible in this book.• How do you read a graphic novel? Panel by panel? Pictures first and then text? Text first and then
pictures? There is no single “right” way. Compare your approach with a classmate’s.• Look at pages 44–45. What do you learn from just the text on these pages? What do you learn from
just the images? What adjectives would you use to describe Blue and Crow?• The graphic artist chooses what to include in each panel and how the panels appear on each page.
Read pages 11 and 47 and pay particular attention to the last panel on each page. How does the artist encourage the reader to turn the page in these two instances? On page 47, also notice the perspective from which we view each panel. How does it shift from frame to frame? What effect does this have?
• Not all of the panels in this graphic novel are the same size. Read pages 40–41, when Crow falls from the roof and Blue saves him. What effect do the varied sizes and increased number of panels per page have on the pacing of the story in this scene? Turn to page 42. Why do you think the artist chose to use a larger panel in the middle of the page to show Crow safely on the floor? How does that decision affect the pacing here?
Extension Activities• Create panels and dialogue for a new scene in the novel. Perhaps Blue gets
caught by the rival gang of newsies, or Blue introduces Crow to Muffy.• The world the author creates in NewsPrints is similar to the late 1800s in the United States, when orphan
“newsies” sold papers on the street corners, but the author adds additional elements to that world that take her story from historical fiction to fantasy. Try your hand at world building. Imagine the landscape and weather, what the inhabitants wear and do, the political systems, and modes of transportation. Write a description of your world in a few paragraphs and draw a picture of it.
• Start a graphic novel club with fellow students who especially enjoy this literary form. At monthly meet-ings, encourage members to book talk graphic novels they’ve read since the last meeting. Create “Great Graphics!” forms for students in the club to fill out to recommend individual titles. Post them in the school library for other students to see.
AN IMPRINT OF Some questions revised from Scholastic’s A Guide to Using Graphic Novels with Children and Teens, which can be
found at www.scholastic.com/discussionguides.
www.scholastic.com/graphix
