Graphic Classics Volume 24: Native American Classics

The Graphic Classics series has cast a wide net lately, branching out from illustrated adaptations of short stories by the likes of Poe and Lovecraft to surveys of tales centering on African Americans and, now, Native Americans. Collecting stories by Native American writers from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, this is a fine plunge into a culture that’s been shamefully underrepresented in the format, infrequent exceptions like the anthology Trickster (2010) and George O’Connor’s Journey into Mohawk Country (2006) notwithstanding. Not surprisingly, many of the poems and stories focus on the tense relationship with the “White Man” and the fading of the Native American way of life, and a tone of melancholy pervades much of the book. Toward the middle, though, humorous stories pop up, including an encounter between a coyote god and a wild potato, and hope also springs up, as in the poem “Changing Is Not Vanished.” Much care has been taken to match the appropriate art style to each adaptation, and though no big names supply illustrations, each story—from the tragic to the funny—slips gracefully into its visuals. Grades 7-12. --Jesse Karp