21st Century Texts

Genre Study:

21^st Century genres are pieces of literature that employ sequential visual storytelling through symbol, image, and/or multi-media formats to convey meaning. Successful comprehension of 21^st century literature depends on decoding message modalities beyond text alone. 21^st century literature can be broken down into different subgenres known as graphic novels, digi-fiction, doodle fiction, manga fiction, and illustrated novels. Graphic novels are narratives in a comic book format that are either fiction or non-fiction. Graphic novels can be original stories or remakes of stories that were originally written as a traditional novel and there are even classic novels that have been rewritten as graphic novels. Manga is a Japanese word that means comic. Manga fiction is usually used in English-speaking countries as a generic term for all comic books and graphic novels originally published in Japan. Manga fiction is a specific artistic and storytelling style of literature. Manga usually follows the traditional reading style of Japan: from right to left. Digi-fiction is a subgenre that combines three media: book, movie/video, and an Internet website. The reader must be engaged in all three media in order to understand the full story. Illustrated novels are usually 50 percent illustrations and 50 percent text. The story from an illustrated novel cannot be fully comprehended without interpreting the images. Doodle fiction has hand-scribed font and images are incorporated in place of traditional typed font. The drawings enhance the story and they often add humorous elements that keep readers engaged.

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Selected Titles:

Selznick, B. (2007). The invention of hugo cabret: A novel in words and pictures. New York: Scholastic Press.

This book has a Lexile level of 820L and the appropriate reading level for this text is grades 3-7. The author of this text tells the story with a combination of illustrations and words, 284 of the pages are illustrations and the story cannot be fully comprehended without taking a complete consideration of the illustrations. Students can connect to the text because two of the main characters are children about 12 years of age. This is a great book for struggling readers and reluctant readers because it is a thick book with 526 pages yet many of the pages are illustrations and some pages have text but not that many words on the page. Struggling readers will have a sense of accomplishment when they are reading this book and they can gain confidence in their reading ability. Students will learn how to connect the story that is told in words to the parts of the story that are told in pictures.

Pilkey, D. (1997). The adventures of captain underpants: An epic novel. New York: Blue Sky Press.

This text is a great resource for boy readers and reluctant readers because it is a graphic novel that is written in a comic book design with cartoons and friendly text features. The hand-scribed images and cartoons allow readers to be engaged with the text and experience humor and interaction with the text.  This book as a Lexile level of 720L and the appropriate grade level is 2nd-5th and appropriate for ages 7-10. The author of this book allows readers to get the chance to interact with graphics, engaging activities, and funny inserts that keep readers engaged with the text. Kids will love to read about the goofy and hilarious stories in this series of Captain Underpants graphic novels and they are great texts for independent reading. Boys will love to read these books because they are about two boys who create their own comic book hero named Captain Underpants and they get themselves into trouble and in funny situations.