Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2010

I'm really honored that YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) named Katman as one of the great teen graphic novels for 2010. As if I didn't already love librarians enough. Check out all the great company I'm with (here)

School Library Journal Review

Here some highlights:

"Pyle's Katman succeeds because of its honesty. He doesn't try to make it an afterschool special kind of story, where the choices are easy and right and wrong are clear."

and

"Katman is a strong story, but a hard read. It's not for readers unfamiliar with the comic medium, but it is also not for readers looking for something quick and easy to breeze through. Pyle requires his readers to think and to do that, they have to pay attention to details in the text and panels. But for readers wanting a realistic story where a teen himself is the superhero simply by doing what he is able to do, they will find in Katman a character to admire."

READ MORE

Nominations!

I'm honored to join the long list of nominees for two YA lists:

The Cybils (Children and Young Adult Blogger's Literacy Awards): (LINK)

AND the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Great Graphic Novels for Teens (LINK)

A great side effect of this honor is that librarians all over the country are reading it and starting to post reviews:

Here's one from Canada: This was a great story. I don't usually go in for teen reality fiction but this story grabbed me right away. Kit is a character that one feels for right away and teens will identify with. The book has a great plot (which I won't give away) that makes the book hard to put down until you've finished. The book is peopled with eccentric characters such as Vinod who belongs to the religion of Jainism, an autistic teen nicknamed Bleep, and the local crazy cat lady. Ultimately, the underlying theme of the book is caring. It sounds kind of corny written down like that but trust me, it's not. The book asks how many people really care these days? Care about something, about someone, about doing something or believing in something? A very powerful story.

Comic Book Resources Interview

I love that the interviewer, Alex Dueben, asked about Jainism and The Planet of the Apes!

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KEVIN C. PYLE'S STRAY CATS AND SUPERHEROES

by Alex Dueben, Guest Contributor

Kevin C. Pyle probably isn’t a name most comics fans are familiar with, but he’s been working in comics and illustration for many years. Pyle’s received the Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators and has contributed to the long-running anthology “World War 3 Illustrated,” and co-edited the most recent volume, issue #39, which was released earlier this year.

In 2007, Pyle released “Blindspot,” a graphic novel that he dedicated to “Mom, Dad and Sgt. Rock,” about a young boy and the war games he plays with his friends. It showed Pyle as an artist interested in the relationship between fantasy and reality and how they reflect and influence each other, in drawing realistic teenage characters who are trying to make sense of themselves and their lives and as an artist, and also demonstrated Pyle’s considerable skill at establishing a sense of place. An excerpt of “Blindspot” was included in 2008’s “The Best American Comics” edited by Lynda Barry.

Pyle’s new graphic novel “Katman” is one a tightly plotted story that balances multiple story and thematic elements. It’s the story of a teenage boy who starts feeding stray cats in his neighborhood, and what starts out very simply becomes a very powerful story about fighting for something that matters and the refusal to remain cynical and detached from the world.

CBR News spoke with Kevin C. Pyle about “Katman” and his body of work. (READ MORE)

Local Press

Baristanet, THEE Montclair/Bloomfield/Glen Ridge blog, has a nice piece on the local landscape and imbedded in Katman.

"There's a new graphic novel out by Bloomfield artist Kevin Pyle, about a boy who feeds stray cats, and it's full of places Bloomfielders will recognize, from the Bloomfield train station to the inside of the Bukowski Animal Shelter. "Katman," released Sept. 1, was inspired partly by a "little cat village" where someone leaves food for stray cats, which Pyle discovered near the Bloomfield train station.

But it's also inspired by all the boarded-up storefronts that resulted from Bloomfield's..." (READ MORE)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Katman Kevin C. Pyle. Henry Holt, $12.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8285-2

This great coming-of-age tale promotes nonconformity as well as responsibility (and young love, too, but to a lesser extent). It's the summer break, and lacking friends or funds, teenager Kit is hanging around the house too much. Wandering aimlessly through his low-income neighborhood in Brooklyn, Kit takes pity on the stray cats he sees. He feels as abandoned as they are, and is soon feeding them, first from his mother's pantry and then by stealing. But by caring for the kitties, the boy begins a journey of growth and maturity, meeting people like the “crazy” cat lady (who was once involved in radical politics); the shopkeeper who catches Kit stealing and teaches him about Jainism; and most importantly, Jess, a cute punk rock girl with artistic ambitions. She's impressed that even though Kit is not sure why he's doing it, unlike her so-called friends he's doing something selfless and refuses to waver from his beliefs under peer pressure. Jess further encourages Kit by creating Katman, a manga-like superhero alter ego. Pyle's loose, vibrant art brings an immediacy to this story that often reads as if we're peeking into Jess's notebooks. (Sept.)(LINK)

High-Low review

The always insightful Rob Clough posted a review of "Katman." Of course my favorite line is: "...the character of Kit wound up being enormously compelling, precisely because he was so difficult to pigeonhole." since I was trying to explore but also subvert what one might see as stock "YA" characters. Also, I'm glad he got the "existentialist's dilemma" and how the story is another angle on the relationship between fantasy life and reality explored in "Blindspot." (READ MORE)

KATMAN releases September 1st

From Henry Holt for Young Readers

Here's the back text:

Expelled into the hot, empty streets, fifteen-year-old Kit takes to feeding the stray cats that haunt the forgotten and unseen spaces of his town. There he also meets Jess, a manga-loving punk stuck with heavy-metal headbangers. But the pack can only hold for so long once she creates Katman, a ferocious shape-shifting stand-in for Kit’s quiet version of heroism. Not that he thinks of himself as a hero. After all, heroes don’t typically lie, steal, and hang out with crazy people.

Exploring themes of abandonment, reluctant responsibility, and the transformative power of art, KATMAN tells the story of two people forced to make a choice: Is it cooler to care about something, someone, or nothing at all?