CBC Books announced the winners of their first-ever book club awards, the Bookies. The contest, which celebrates some of the best Canadian literature of the past year, was decided by a reader-generated nomination and voting system.

Congratulations to Sarah Leavitt for picking up a Bookie for Best Comic or Graphic Novel for Tangles!

Tangles: a Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt

Summary: What do you do when your outspoken, passionate and quick-witted mother starts fading into a forgetful, fearful woman? In this powerful graphic memoir, Sarah Leavitt reveals how Alzheimer’s disease transformed her mother Midge—and her family—forever. In spare black and white drawings and clear, candid prose, Sarah shares her family’s journey through a harrowing range of emotions—shock, denial, hope, anger, frustration—all the while learning to cope, and managing to find moments of happiness.

The 2010 Eisner Nominations are out. Check out the full list here.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has released a list of great graphic novels for teens. I have added the tag "yalsa 2010" to some of the books on the list, so that they are easy to find in the catalogue. Check them out here.

The Zuda Comics competition is open for voting again, and this year one of the competitors is Regina's own Chad Boudreau with his entry The Thunderchickens. Eight pages of his comic are online, and, if he wins, he will get a contract from DC to finish the comic.

So, go to www.zudacomics.com, and vote!

Want to check out Chad's other work? Put a hold on Psychosis.

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon has made Oprah's booklist!

Okay, that was a little misleading. Robot Dreams has been listed on Oprah's Kids Reading List: 6-9 Years. But still, some mainstream attention for a talented graphic novelist is exciting.

See what all the fuss is about, and put a hold on the book.

The Eisner Award Winners were announced at Comic-Con, and a special standout for me is Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance) and Gabriel Ba, which won Best Limited Series. When I first heard about the title, I wondered whether it was just a way to cash in on the popularity of the band, but it has been getting quite a bit of positive critical attention.

To read the entire list of Eisner winners, go here.

Vote for your favorite Canadian comic book creator at the Joe Shuster Awards website! You can also put in a vote for outstanding international (non-Canadian) comic book creator.

If you love the Fables series by Bill Willingham but have voraciously read through all 9 volumes and are eagerly waiting Fables volume 10: The Good Prince (set to be released in June, 2008) and you are jonesing for your next "Fables fix" why not get a little taste with a lovely little spin off series known as Jack of Fables?!

Essentially it's Little Jack Horners life after living amongst the Fables of Fabletown! He's a greedy ne'er do well, but he makes for one heck of a main character. He's pretty much the guy you love to hate...or at the very least, dislike A LOT! It's also written by Bill Willingham so it still mentions all the characters you know and love.

Check out the titles in the catalogue!

Jack of Fables volume 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape
Jack of Fables volume 2: Jack of Hearts
Jack of Fables volume 3 (**it's not set to release until July, 2008, but add your name to the list to be sure you get a spot!)

--The Library Technician

Get a peek into the lives of the first class of X-Men to enter Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I really enjoyed Tomorrow's Brightest by Jeff Parker because of its light-hearted tone (try not to laugh out loud when you see Professor Xavier's plan for tracking down Dr. Strange). The artwork is phenomenal - Roger Cruz has a modern edge to his superhero drawings, and manages to do what others in the field cannot - each of his characters looks like a different person! Instead of trying to decipher characters by hair colour, you can actually tell who it is based on bone structure and body build. By far, this is one of the most enjoyable super-hero graphic novels I have read in a while.

These fabulous books tell the story of Yorick Brown, a jobless English major who turns out to, possibly, be the last man on Earth after a plague kills every living mammal with a Y chromosome...except for him! Now he's off, with his pet monkey and a special agent, to find a doctor who is an expert in cloning, his sister who's in Boston, and his girlfriend who's in Australia. All the while dodging a gang of over the top feminists calling themselves Amazons and Israeli soldiers who want his blood.

Did I mention he's got a monkey? C'mon, who doesn't love a good story with a monkey in it?

If this has peaked your interest, check out the first in the series; Y: The Last Man, Unmanned in our catalogue!

--The Library Technician