GRAPHIC NOVELS 

Two new graphic novels upturn traditional myths by empowering young women BY LINDA LUDKE

▲ Tell No Tales

Oh My Gods! 

Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick; Juliana Moon, ill. 

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ages 8–12

H Tell No Tales: Pirates of the Southern Seas 

Amulet Paperbacks, Ages 10–14  

Sam Maggs and Kendra Wells, ill.

THE DEBUT MIDDLE-GRADE graphic novel Oh My Gods!, co-written by Toronto comic book scribe Stephanie Cooke and New Jersey–based Insha Fitzpatrick, delivers light-hearted lessons in friendship and ancient mythology. In this promising series opener, 13-year-old Karen heads to Greece to reconnect with Zed, her eccentric and über-wealthy father. On her first day at Mount Olympus Junior High, Karen is confused by the “fancy-arts school” amenities like the Pegasus stables and is stumped by curriculum that includes a recitation of “all the members of the Grecian oligarchy of 384 BC.” When she runs into a centaur in the cafeteria, she naively figures the student body must be big into method acting. Karen is equally perplexing to her classmates, several of whom ask her, “Sorry, what’s your name again? Is that short for something?”