Graphic Guide Adventures is a new graphic novel series for 8 – 14 year olds, combining comic book action with graphic step-by-step guides that teach readers everything from building a shelter in the wilderness to landing a sweet skateboarding trick.
Created by Liam O’Donnell, illustrated by Mike Deas and published by Orca Book Publishers, the series are available at fine bookstores in Canada and the United States (and online, of course.)
Wild Ride
Devin, Nadia and Marcus are on their way to visit their environmentalist parents who are working to stop a logging company from clear-cutting a remote valley. When their plane crashes and the pilot is killed, the kids are left to survive in the wild with Wiley, a government bureaucrat, who is the only other passenger on the plane. Learning to build a shelter and make a fire in the woods, they discover that Wiley is working with the logging company and will do anything to stop the secret getting out. On the run and in mortal danger, the three must outrun Wiley, escape a raging forest fire and outwit a hungry grizzly bear to make it to safety.
Combining pulse-pounding adventure and survival skills in a colorful graphic novel format, Graphic Guides are sure to be a hit with young readers. Wild Ride is packed with survival tips including how to build a fire and set a broken limb.
Ramp Rats
Fresh from his adventures in Wild Ride, Marcus is back and helping his cousin, Bounce, learn to skate. Between learning how to ollie and do a 50-50 grind, Bounce and his friends also have to avoid the skate-park goons and take on the outlaw bikers who are terrorizing the small town. Excitement, action and some radical skating tips. Hang on for another wild ride!
Soccer Sabotage
Nadia is playing for her local soccer team, and they have made it all the way to the national tournament—against some very determined opposition. Unfortunately, Nadia’s challenges don’t just come from her opponents but from her teammates as well. After their coach is injured in a suspicious accident and the threats against the team mount, it is up to Nadia and her younger brother Devin to pull the team together and take a run at the championship. Another Wild Ride!
Media Meltdown
When Karl Reed, Owner of Oasis Developments, tries to force the sale of a local fruit farm—through whatever means necessary—Pema, Bounce and Jagroop decide to expose him through the media. Little do they realize that when it comes to the news and the advertisers who make it possible, the truth is not always part of the story and nothing can be taken at face value. While learning about media consolidation and the power of money over truth, Bounce, Pema and Jagroop decide to take on the developers and the media.
Food Fight
Devin and Nadia are in a desperate race to stop a multinational corporation from gaining control of the food supply and destroying their mother’s career in the process.
While Devin and Nadia spend summer vacation at a university camp for little kids—Nadia as a counselor and Devin as an unwilling participant—their mother’s research project is vandalized and her motives are questioned. Devin, Nadia and Simon stumble upon shady characters, corporate conspiracy and a plot to take over the nation’s food supply with genetically modified fertilizer.
Mixing action and suspense with information on the agricultural system and the intricacies of the food supply, Food Fight is another gripping installment in the Graphic Guide Adventure series.
Power Play
Devin and Nadia team up with Bounce, Pema and Marcus as they all travel to Northern Ontario to watch their parents present to the Summit of World Leaders. A swarm of politicians, lobbyists, corporate bosses and protestors have all converged on the summit to get their messages heard. A tragic accident just hours before their parents’ presentation plunges the kids into their biggest mystery yet and sets them on the trail of a murderer bent on stopping their parents’ controversial message from being heard.
It’s a fight against the planet’s power players as the kids dive into the world of politics, uncovering how government works, the history of democracy, the influence of lobbyists and corporations on politicians and the potential of civil society to change it all.
