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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Data Show Comics & Graphic Novels Are Good for Kids
Sales of graphic novels have nearly doubled in the last five years, making them one of the most popular genres in the publishing industry. Only romance and general fiction perform better. Young readers are a key driver of the trend, as recent surveys show a 69% increase in the popularity of graphic novels among elementary school children. The boom is great news for the books business, but a majority of school librarians report that teachers and parents remain skeptical and “don’t think it’s a legitimate form of literature.” Handwringing over comics is nothing new, but it is likely unnecessary. While parents and educators have good reason to be concerned about kids’ literacy—research shows sharp declines in both reading frequency and enjoyment as students age from elementary school to high school—a 2023 survey from the National Literacy Trust found that kids who read comics and graphic novels for leisure were twice as likely as those who don’t read the genre to report that they 1) enjoyed reading and 2) felt that they were good readers. How about them apples.
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Apple Goes All in With Severance Self-Help Book
Fans of Apple TV+’s genre-bending mystery box series Severance will be delighted to learn that they can read the self-help book that helped radicalize the show’s “innies.” The You You Are: A Spiritual Biography of You by fictional guru Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale, PhD (played by the always-game Michael Chernus) is now available as a 39-page ebook from Apple Books. Performing a great public service, The Cut‘s Katja Vujić reports on all the fun facts and Easter eggs in the satirical tome. I already knew something about Ricken was off, but if I needed any confirmation, now I have it: the dude hates Sister Act.
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