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1 week ago | 
slj.com | Amanda MacGregor |J. Caleb Mozzocco
With the 2024 Nation’s Report Card showing further declines in reading, more support for struggling readers and their educators has never been more important. And the rise of the evidence-based science of reading in recent years has made clear that a multifaceted approach works best. “We know that struggling readers need engaging, decodable texts that build vocabulary, background knowledge, comprehension, and cultural capital as well,” says Sarah Forbes, publisher, DK Learning.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
Fresh StartWriter/artist: Gale GalliganScholastic; $12.99/$24.99Grades 3-8Middle-schooler Ollie Herisson and her sister are the daughters of a diplomat, which means they move around a lot, a fact she has come to depend on. It means she never has to get too attached to anyone at school or worry too much about the impression she makes, as a fresh start at a brand-new school in a brand-new country is usually just around the corner.
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Jan 1, 2025 | 
slj.com | Terry Hong |Edith Campbell |Emily Mroczek-Bayci |J. Caleb Mozzocco
by (text) & narrated by Kim Staunton . Oct. 2024. 14p. $6.99. ISBN 9781546120841. COPY ISBN K-Gr 3–“Long before a slave ship sailed,/ we shined like stars—/ brilliant and beautiful,” Oso opens.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Naruto #1Writer: Caleb GoellnerArtist: Hendry PrasetyaIDW Publishing/Viz Media; $4.99Crossovers are nothing new for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who began sharing adventures with fellow independent comics characters like Usagi Yojimbo, Cerebus and The Flaming Carrot way back in the black-and-white 1980s.
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Nov 7, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
Tegan and Sara: CrushWriters: Tegan Quin and Sara QuinArtist: Tillie WaldenFarrar, Straus and Giroux; $14.99When we last left Tegan and Sara, the comics avatars of indie-pop duo-turned-comics writers Tegan and Sara Quin in the pages of last year’s graphic novel Tegan and Sara: Junior High, the twins were celebrating their thirteenth birthday, having successfully survived the seventh grade at a new school and embarking on a fledgling music career.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. TolkienWriter/artist: John HendrixHarry N. Abrams; $24.99Despite what some reviews, blurbs and even the solicitation copy from the publisher itself may claim, John Hendrix’s The Mythmakers is not a graphic novel…even by the extremely wide and generous definition of the term that the publishing industry has come to use, which essentially amounts to any form of comics that are bound between two covers.
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Oct 23, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
Spider-Man: Octo-Girl Vol. 1Writer: Hideyuki FuruhashiArtist: Betten CourtViz Media, $11.99Rated T+ for Older TeenIn 2013, comics writer Dan Slott penned a story in which a dying Doctor Octopus swapped bodies with his arch-enemy Spider-Man Freaky Friday style, with the long-time villain unexpectedly embarking on a quest to become an even better superhero than Spidey ever was.
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Oct 2, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
The Grinch Takes a VacationWriter/artist: Kaeti VandornRH Graphic; $10.99If the Cat in the Hat is Dr. Seuss’ signature creation, the striped top hat he wears becoming a type of visual shorthand for Seuss in general, then the Grinch is probably a close second.
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Sep 20, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
Batman and Robin and Howard: Summer BreakdownWriter: Jeffrey BrownArtists: Jeffrey Brown and Silvana BrysDC Comics; $12.99Damian Wayne has survived his first year at a new school, his classmate and one-time rival Howard becoming his best friend…and learning of Damian’s double life as one half of the Dynamic Duo.
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Sep 6, 2024 | 
goodcomicsforkids.slj.com | J. Caleb Mozzocco
Archie: The Decision #1Writer: Tom KingArtists: Dan Parent and Bob SmithArchie Comics; $3.99Archie: The Decision #1, a one-shot comic in which Archie presumably finally decides between Betty and Veronica and potentially ends an eight-decade long love triangle, seems more like an opportunity for the writer to cross something off his bucket list than a story with a compelling reason for being.
