SELECTION - Best Graphic Novels of 2014, Foreword Reviews

SELECTION, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Fall 2014

SELECTION, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Fall 2014 Jamie Kidding finds a semi-automatic handgun in an inner-city dumpster. An aspiring artist, Jamie initially resorts to his notebook to record the reality of his complicated life with his mother, his deadbeat stepfather and the bullies he faces daily at his high school. Gradually, the weapon takes over Jamie's life and his imagination, tantalizing him with deadly solutions to his personal troubles. Seduced by a sense of power, one fateful day he takes the gun to school. Jamie's Got a Gun is a hypbrid of novel, film noir, and comic/graphic novel.

Gail Sidonie Sobat is an award-winning author for children, teens and young adults. Her novel, Gravity Journal, was a 2009 White Pine Honour Book, a Moonbeam Gold Award winner, and was nominated for the 2011 Stellar Award. Gail is also the creator and coordinator of YouthWrite, camps for kids who love to write, and of SWYC (Spoken Word Youth Choir). Not With a Bang is her ninth book.

Gail Sidonie Sobat's profile page

Spyder Yardley-Jones' profile page

"[Gail Sidonie Sobat's] got the pulse of young people and knows how they think and feel… By collaborating with Spyder Yardley-Jones [she's] added that graphic element that adds a thousand words - Helen Kubiw, CanLit for Little Canadians

"This book is not just for teens or comic-lovers. It is for anyone who would come across Jamie's diary and care to know his story … [The book] makes the reader feel like they are picking up Jamie's journal, getting a glimpse into his life, and understanding what could lead a teen to see violence as an answer to their problems. Jamie's problems are very real issues facing young people, and teens and children do need help from forces outside their lives, hopefully from somewhere other than a gun." - Will J Fawley, The Winnipeg Review

"This powerful, poignant, and ultimately hopeful book should not be missed." - Foreword Reviews

"Talented Edmonton teacher and author Sobat collaborates with internationally recognized local cartoonist Spyder Yardley-Jones in this amazing hybrid novel, film noir and comic/graphic novel for mature readers … Readers will rush through the text to return to the stimulating drawings as the possibilities become more obvious." - ASLC Lit Picks