Introduction

Climate change, police violence, mental illness, LGBTQI issues, labour rights,sexual abuse and racism are just some of the social justice issues that are at the forefront of young people's minds today

Young people have long spear headed social justice movements and been the leading voices raising awareness

Today's young people are highly attuned to current social justice issues due to the pervasive nature of technology and social media. Young people are also using online platforms to connect and mobilise on a mass scale.

This annotated bibliography will focus on young adult graphic novels with themes of social justice.

What better format to conjure relatable heroes? 

A common theme in graphic novels has often involved a struggle or battle and themes of good vs evil. Protagonists play an active role and the animation of each battle and the facial expressions characters express are illustrated for us.

The combination of text and illustration in graphic novels has a unique ability to convey emotions and movement.

Graphic novels are a tool that can help us empathise with the social issue a character faces.

However, studies have shown that large amounts of  screen time has had effects on our brains!

The instant dopamine hit that screen time provides has affected our ability to apply sustained cognitive attention to tasks such as reading.

Graphic Novels are a great introduction to literature for those of us who struggle to finish a novel!

The visual attention and fractional nature of graphic novels lends itself to what we have become accustomed to in online media.  Also, some of us are visual people who enjoy the stimulation that graphic novels can provide.

All titles on this blog have been sourced from Novelist Database and other sources as referenced.