Ghostopolis has
been floating around for a couple of years now and for some strange reason
–strange because I very much enjoy graphic novels- I hadn’t turned my attention
to it until recently. Even then, I trotted the book out for use with a group of
my students thinking to use it as a bridge to more “serious” texts. Well, shame
on me -especially, me! I’ve been a fan of words married to pictures, comics and
graphic novels, my entire life and I fell into the prevailing bias so many seem
to have for these authored works –that they’re something to pass the time, not worthy
of heavier examination and reflection. Ghostopolis
set me right. More importantly, it connected with many of my students, helping
them go below mere surface reading.
Ghostopolis is the story of Garth, a boy who has an incurable disease, and is accidentally pulled into the world of ghosts. There he meets his grandfather who looks almost as young as he does. His grandfather provides Garth with the lay of the land: how Ghostopolis came to be, why many ghosts sneak back to live among the living, how Vaugner (our villain) rose to power, and how Garth as a living being among the non-living has amazing abilities as long as he employs his imagination.
While the plotted events in the novel are straightforward, the story message is less obviously given; and those students who opted to read Ghostopolis soon learned to become careful examiners of what was depicted and what was repeated. Ghostopolis, because of its illustrations, helped my developing readers examine the literary elements of theme and symbolism more readily. They were able to identify the repetition of loss in the story and eventually connect it to character redemption by the end. Characters clothed in pilot outfits were looked at much differently once they began to consider the symbolic qualities behind such uniforms. (These are people we trust to help us reach a destination.)
While much of this may seem heady and dour, Doug Tennapel did a terrific job of weaving in plenty of humor. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if younger or less scrutinizing readers mistook the book for simple, comedic adventure. Better still, the novel left my students clamoring for more. Each wanted to know if there was a sequel. Is there a better complement for a book than having readers desiring to read more of it? I think not.
Ghostopolis is the story of Garth, a boy who has an incurable disease, and is accidentally pulled into the world of ghosts. There he meets his grandfather who looks almost as young as he does. His grandfather provides Garth with the lay of the land: how Ghostopolis came to be, why many ghosts sneak back to live among the living, how Vaugner (our villain) rose to power, and how Garth as a living being among the non-living has amazing abilities as long as he employs his imagination.
While the plotted events in the novel are straightforward, the story message is less obviously given; and those students who opted to read Ghostopolis soon learned to become careful examiners of what was depicted and what was repeated. Ghostopolis, because of its illustrations, helped my developing readers examine the literary elements of theme and symbolism more readily. They were able to identify the repetition of loss in the story and eventually connect it to character redemption by the end. Characters clothed in pilot outfits were looked at much differently once they began to consider the symbolic qualities behind such uniforms. (These are people we trust to help us reach a destination.)
While much of this may seem heady and dour, Doug Tennapel did a terrific job of weaving in plenty of humor. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if younger or less scrutinizing readers mistook the book for simple, comedic adventure. Better still, the novel left my students clamoring for more. Each wanted to know if there was a sequel. Is there a better complement for a book than having readers desiring to read more of it? I think not.
