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by Sara Smith
First published - 4/18/2021 Not sure where to start with buying manga for your library? Don't worry, you're not alone. This is probably the #1 question I get from school librarians. So, to help you and many others out, here is a list of recommendations to start. These series have stood the test of time and will hopefully make every scarce budget dollar be well worth it, but I've also linked full reviews so you can check them out for yourself and make sure they're right for your library collection. 
by Sara Smith
This year, my reading challenge was a modest 200 books, a far cry from the heigh of 2020 where I had the goal of a book-a-day. But, this feels like a good balance between work, life, and reading! And, I still managed to find 15 great books with some honorable mentions while pumping out many reviews for Booklist and the site, and even finding time to squeeze in School Library Journal this year. I hope you find some great books below to include in your collections! (Note: any review marked with an * may require a Booklist subscription to read, or you might be able to find it among your favorite library purchasing software) 
The awesome KC Boyd held another Boss Librarian PD to get us all pumped-up for the school year, so of course I had to share my best titles to buy for this fall! Check out my resources below:
Slide Show bit.ly/BossSuper Title List bit.ly/BossSuperGNs 
This Spring, the New Jersey Association of School Librarians held a virtual mini-conference with the theme, "Hope and Healing." My presentation for this conference was "Manga that Heals the Soul." After all, there is an entire genre of manga, "iyashikei", that is meant to heal the reader. Many of these stories have something to do with animals and nature, so you'll find tons of cute animals all over my presentation. Check out my resources below:
I'm back with another edition of "Supersize your Graphic Novel Collection", this time with some added goodies. In addition to the list of books I'd recommend from this year, I also gave attendees a list of EVERY book I've ever recommended from ANY of my various PDs! All in one place! Have fun!
by Sara Smith
In 2022, I challenged myself to read 300 books, but that quickly became an unreasonable pace to keep with as I got more involved in things with my school. I re-set my sights on 250 books, and was ultimately successful. From those 250, here are my Top 15, with 5 honorable mentions, and some shout outs to series I selected last year that kept churning out bangers in 2022. (Note: any review marked with an * will require a Booklist subscription to read) I was so honored to be invited to lead a workshop on Manga 101 at this year's School Library Journal Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was such a great experience with some awesome Library leaders! I highly encourage y'all to submit a request to go to this conference in the future. In my session, I gave some primer information on publishers, age ratings, and of course, some must-buy titles! Check out my resources below, and hopefully you find a title or two to put on your purchase lists.
by Sara Smith
There are a lot of great titles nominated each year for prestigious comics awards. Here are some of the relevant winners and nominees for categories that will help school librarians with their purchasing decisions. I definitely haven't read all of these amazing titles (yet!), but where I can, I have linked my review of the titles I have finished. As always, this list means I have even more titles to add to my towering TBR pile!  I had the pleasure of speaking at K.C. Boyd's Back-to-School professional development mini-con in August of 2022. I got to share about some must-buy titles for Fall of 2022, and hear from some folks from across the nation. This was a fantastic experience, and I'm so honored I was included! Below are the resources I shared with the audience. Hope you find some great titles to add to your lists this semester! 
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Info PostingsThis section is where I will post general information about graphic novels, lists, news, or other things I feel are relevant to the development of graphic novel sections in libraries.
About MeI've been reading Manga and comicbooks for years. Now, it's time to share my knowledge with you.
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