Daniel Tervoort's overview of Milwaukee comic shops

In 2005, Daniel Tervoort wrote a nice overview of the Milwaukee comic shop scene for Associated Content.

Here's the first paragraph:

"Having just moved here to Milwaukee and being something of a comic book hound I was interested in finding the best places in the area to get my regular comics “fix”. My interest is primarily in the realm of alternative and underground comix (Love and Rockets, Zap, RAW, Eightball, etc) so keep that in mind when evaluating my opinions on the following stores. I now live in the West Allis area and these were the first four shops I encountered in my neighborhood."

Read it all here

Jeff Lemire lends a hand

Jeff Lemire, creator of the Essex County books, The Nobody, and the new series, Sweet Tooth, is helping to spread the word about my reading group, Not Just For Kids Anymore.

Link to original post

Link to Jeff Lemire's main blog

Read a preview of The Nobody here

Educate yourself about Lemire's Essex County books here

Official Sweet Tooth info is here

JSOnline article about my reading group

Link to JSOnline article

Link to ExpressMilwaukee calendar mention

Link to MPL calendar mention

Milwaukee Public Library's Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Group

Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Group (for mature readers)
Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Location: Washington Park Library, 2121 N. Sherman Blvd., Milwaukee, WI 53208
Phone: 414-286-3066
Details:
If you're 18 or older and enjoy reading comic books and graphic novels from publishers like Vertigo and Fantagraphics, come to the inaugural meeting of Not Just for Kids Anymore, the Washington Park Comic Book & Graphic Novel Book Club on Tuesday, September 15, in the Small Meeting Room at Washington Park Library. Our first read will be Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham and Lan Medina. Future selections will be determined by the group. Please note: This is not a group for children, as the books that will be read in this group are the equivalent of "Rated R" movies.
Bonus:
The first 10 people to arrive will receive a free copy of Vertigo Comics' Sweet Tooth #1 by Jeff Lemire.

(I Want To Live On An) Abstract Plain

Apologies to Frank Black: I'm stealing one of his song titles for this post's title. That's a fan-made video for the song up there that I found on YouTube.

I got an email from my advisor, timed 9:31, telling me that I had to change something on my Chapter 4 and that I had to write an abstract. Luckily, I read this email at 9:35. So, I fixed my Chapter 4 and then wrote an abstract.

At 10:55, I got an email from my advisor that read:

"Your chapters are done--congratulations! Your abstract needs work--you can do that over the next few days. It's time to work on your presentation."

Then at 10:56, I got one that read:

"The three students I said I thought would be ready for July comps have finished their papers. So add them to the list!"

Here's the first draft of my abstract:

This study documents two ninth-grade students as they used the creation of comic strips to improve comprehension and boost engagement. Over the course of two months, the researcher collected data during discussions that occurred while the students used graphics software to create comic strips adapting two literary works for a general audience. The research also collected data from the two comic strips. Data were analyzed for evidence of comprehension and engagement. Research findings elaborated on the value of alternative responses to text, collaboration, scaffolded learning, and out-of-school reading. This work prompted questions about several areas for which further research is needed, including the nature of literacy in an increasingly visual world emerged and the role of a student in a study.

Chapter 5 = done!

My advisor informed me that my Chapter 5 is done. That's the complete text of the email above. Nice! I'll I have left to do is give it all one last proofreading, put all my chapters and appendices into one document (for page numbering purposes), write an "Acknowledgments" page, write a table of contents, get two forms signed by my advisor, and create a slide show for oral comps day on July 31. Oops! I almost forgot: My advisor needs to approve the second draft of my Chapter 4, but I'm not too worried about it.

Awaiting feedback on Chapter 5

I sent my first draft of my Chapter 5 to my advisor yesterday. I'm sure she'll have some kind of feedback for me at our meeting later today. Here's an excerpt:

McKool (2007) and Norton (2003) believed that there was a strong relationship between success in school and the amount of out-of-school reading a student does. Alicia and Joe are proof of this concept. Though Alicia’s most recent reading assessment ranked her as Minimal (Discovery Education, n.d.), both she and Joe had been ranked as Proficient as well as Advanced at least once earlier in their careers, according to data retrieved from the district’s student information database by Adam High School’s head counselor. Contributing to this success was their reading habits. During the interview that took place early in the study, Alicia reported that she often read comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels (see Appendix L). She said she read them on an “annual” basis. After talking further with her, I came to the conclusion that she interpreted the word annual to mean “all year round.” At least one adult in her life directly supported her out-of-school reading; her legal guardian and she enjoyed reading collections of Aaron McGruder’s comic strip, The Boondocks (McGruder, 1999-2006). Similarly, Joe had an older brother who shared his enthusiasm for comic books and similar texts. During his interview (see Appendix M), Joe reported that he “always” liked to read comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels and that he read them on a “biweekly” basis. Both students stated that they gained access to comic books and similar texts in several places: public libraries, school libraries, books stores, comic book specialty shops, and the internet. The fact that Alicia and Joe reported that they had access to comic books and similar texts in school libraries resonated with Cho, Choi, and Krashen’s (2005) observation of the educational mainstream’s growing enthusiasm for such texts.

[Note: "Alicia," "Joe," and "Adams High School" are pseudonyms.]