A Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows the debtor to retain certain exempt property, but the debtor’s remaining property is gathered and sold by a trustee from which credi-tors will receive payment. It may also be used by businesses which wish to termi-nate their business.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy enables debt-ors, through court supervision and protection, to propose and carry out a repayment plan under which creditors are paid, in full or in part, in installments over a three-year period. During that time, debtors are prohibited from start-ing or continuing collection efforts.

The following bankruptcies declared by Calhoun County residents were record-ed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Alabama last week:

Chapter 7• Brenton Michael Barnhill and Rebecca Shay Barnhill, Airport Road, Oxford• Christine M. Oliver, 7th Avenue NE, Jacksonville

Chapter 13• Keith Bracy, Old Highway 9, Anniston• Shelley Griffin, Airport Road, Oxford• Paul Trinh and Julie Trinh, B. Hillyer Robinson Parkway, Oxford• Bobby Freeman and Carrie Hughes, Dorsey Avenue, Anniston

Charles J. Allen, IndianaHoke Anthony Sr., AnnistonPatsy Johnson Arrington, AnnistonVirgil Parker Barber Jr., RoanokeHelen Lena Chastain Bennett, AnnistonLaverne Griffin Bice, Alexander CityJames C. Blair, AnnistonNettie Caldwell, JacksonvilleMary Green Clark, OhatcheeJohn Horace Cobb, White PlainsJames Collier, HeflinSherry D. Crider, McCords CrossroadsDeborah Jo “Debbie” Crosson, OxfordAnita A. Dolan, Clermont, Fla.Joyce Lynch Dorman, Silver RunLoretta S. Edwards, AnnistonJames Edward Gabriel, RoanokeGeorge Lee Elders, Cedar BluffWilliam L. Gardner, GeorgiaMichael E. Grizzard, LinevilleJulia Mae Hannah, WellingtonGeneva Hardy, AnnistonJoseph “Joe” A. Houston, JacksonvilleJerry Fred Impson, AnnistonRosland Johnson, New YorkMildred “Daphine” Jones, LincolnMargaret Caldwell Jones, WadleyDebra S. Judkins, Anniston

Walter Gene Kidd Sr., LinevilleCurtis Ray Laney, LanettLevi Corles Ledbetter, JacksonvilleVickie Gunnels Lorren, PiedmontDebra C. Mann, AnnistonSarah McKay Mathews, LinevilleBobby Kirk Miller, AnnistonAnn Marie Molino, WeaverEdward Leon Nunnally, AnnistonLawrence Orr, TalladegaEvelyn Juanita Overstreet, CentreXiella Lee Parker, Cedar BluffClara Lee Pesnell, HeflinMark Calvin Pesnell, OxfordRuby Pesnell, HeflinThomas Pinta “T.P.” Prichard, GeorgiaRichard Priebe, CentreVictor Rudolph Ray, JacksonvilleMcKinlie AbiGail “Abbie” Sharp, CentreBetty Ruth Sims, JacksonvilleBetty Carolyn Stewart, AnnistonEdward Sutton, WedoweeAngela Swanson, JacksonvilleSandra Jean Taylor, PiedmontGloria Twymon, AnnistonFlorine Waldrep, RoanokeSusan Marie Walker, HeflinDudley Carver Ward Jr., FloridaJames R. Wiggins, OxfordCharlie Lewis Williams, Anniston

SUNDAY RECORDYOUR GUIDE TO PUBLIC RECORDS AND VITAL STATISTICS IN CALHOUN COUNTY

The Anniston Star ● Sunday, January 6, 2013 ● Page 6E

• Wendell Rudolph Ray of Jacksonville to Pamela Irene House of Jacksonville• Michael Duane Whitaker of Welling-ton to Yvonne Denise Cameron of Welling-ton• Matthew Todd Weav-er of Anniston to Mar-get Elizabeth Love of Oxford• Quintony Leemar Chiles of Jacksonville to Christine Marie Mixon of Jacksonville• John Robert Cal-laway of Oxford to Karen Bolan Fowler of Lagrange, Ga.

• Randy Ken Gunter of Oxford to Patricia Elaine Wallace of Oxford• Timothy Charles Adams of Anniston to Lorraine Ann Benson of Mableton, Ga.• Rodney Lloyd Nelson of Anniston to Vanes-sa Faye Whisenant of Anniston• George Early Holman of Anniston to Vanessa Evon Holman of Annis-ton• Kenneth Albin Kopecky of Kenai, Alaska, to Teresa Eliz-abeth Denk of Gads-den

MARRIAGE LICENSESBANKRUPTCIESDEATHS CATTLE SALE

Crimes are listed by location. Anonymous tips may be called in to Crime Stoppers at 256-238-1414. A reward of up to $1,000 may be given.

AnnistonThe following property crimes were report-ed to the Anniston Police Department dur-ing the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday.Burglaries• Residence, 200 block of Andrews Avenue: television, game console, games, clothing. • Residence, 1100 block of West 16th Street: laptop computer, toy doll, game console, remote control toy car. • Residence, 700 block of Blueridge Drive: cash.• Residence, 3000 block of Walnut Avenue: television, hard drives for laptop comput-er.• Residence, 1000 block of 52nd Street: television.• Residence, 2700 block of Simpson Street: refrigerators, washing machines.• Residence, 100 block of Hidden Valley Drive: washing machine, dryer, cast iron

bathtub, sinks, water heater, jewelry.• Residence, 1800 block of Abbott Avenue: television.

Thefts• Parking lot, 400 block of West 11th Street: ladder. • Specialty store, 2400 block of U.S. 431: television.• Residence, 2700 block of Simpson Street: refrigerator, copper wire, aluminum wheels.• Residence, 5000 block of Buggy Lane: tools, tool box.• Supermarket, 2100 block of Noble Street: cash, coin mechanism.• Bank, 1700 block of Noble Street: wallet, cash, credit card, check, personal I.D.• Residence, 300 block of Elm Street: cell phones.• Unknown location, unspecified block of Old Gadsden Highway: mp3 player.• Residence, 1000 block of South Christine Avenue: firearm. (Recovered 01-02-13)• Residence, 1100 block of Christine Ave-nue: washing machine, clothes dryer.• Residence, 800 block of Glenwood Ter-race: television.

Auto-related thefts• Residence, 3100 block of Walnut Avenue: laptop computer. • Parking lot, 400 block of West 29th Street: purse, tablet computer, medication, cell phones, personal I.D.• Residence, 400 block of Leighton Avenue: stereo system, CD case, CDs.• Residence, 400 block of Colvin Street: 1995 Honda Accord.

Calhoun County The following property crimes were reported to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday.Burglaries• Residence, Fayrene Lane, Anniston: tele-vision.Thefts• Residence, unspecified block of Moana Drive, Alexandria: firearm, jewelry.• Residence, Earl Roberts Road, Jackson-ville: household items, air conditioners, game console.

• Residence, Cottaquilla Road, Anniston: cash.

OxfordThe following property crimes were reported to the Oxford Police Department during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday.Thefts• Walmart, 92 Plaza Lane: cell phone and case. (Recovered 12-24-2012)• Target, 400 Oxford Exchange Boulevard: suitcase. (Recovered 12-24-2012)• Construction site near Barry Street: trac-tor parts.• Dillards, 700 Quintard Drive: clothing. (Recovered 01-02-2013)• Walmart, 92 Plaza Lane: merchandise. (Recovered 01-02-2013)• Verizon Wireless, 700 Quintard Drive: cell phone.Auto-related thefts• Unknown location, 400 block of Sunny Eve Road: 1991 Chevrolet Silverado, tools, tool box, fuel tank with pump and fuel, jack stand.

BLOTTER

WILLS PROBATED

Closed for New Year’s holi-day.

ARRESTS

The people listed in this arrest report, whose names and charges are obtained from public records, are presumed inno-cent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

AnnistonThe following felony arrests were report-ed by the Anniston Police Department (addresses not provided) during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday.• Romarus Martez Woods, 25: first-degree possession of marijuana.

• Demetrius Andre Williams III, 19: first-degree receiving stolen property.• Steven Cole Couch, 26: possession of a controlled substance.• Tony James Couch, 53: two counts of pos-session of a controlled substance.

Calhoun CountyThe following felony arrests were reported by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office dur-ing the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m.

Thursday. • Guy Adrian McVeigh, 40, of Piedmont: third-degree burglary.• Sanders Lee Brooks, 61, of Anniston: vio-lation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification act.• April Michelle Northington, 33, of War-rior: failure to appear in court for second-degree theft of property.

Oxford

The following felony arrests were reported by the Oxford Police Department during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thurs-day. • Jessie James Bryant, 70, of Fayetteville, N.C.: two counts of second-degree pos-session of a forged instrument.• Charles Rush Brown, 44, of Anniston: intimidating a witness.• Tommy Joe Smith, 51, of Anniston: theft.• Howard Daniel Waites Jr., 29, of Anniston: second-degree receiving stolen property.

• Harlon R. Minshew• Everett Gaines Veach• Doris J. Green• Fay J. Parker

INCORPORATIONS• Oxford-Coldwater Prop-erties LLC• Twin View Acres Farm LLC• William A. Julian CPA LLC• Leighton Square LLCDissolved• Silver Springs LLC• Davis Truck Stop LLC• Drive Media LLC• Golden Springs LLC• Southern Waste Sys-tems Inc.• Emtek Plumbing & Mechanical Contractors LLC

RATE OF BANKRUPTCIES

This week

Last week

52 weeks ago

8

6

4

210

10

DIVORCES• Ladonna Mathews and Bennie Gene Turner• Erica Lynn Daniel and William Dennis Daniel• Deborah Denise Bice and Jimmy Allen Bice• Kenneth Dewayne Gable and Connie Louise Gable

10 10

2

4

6

8

10

89

6

FORECLOSURES

• Ethel L. Slaughter, Anniston Land Co., block 541-D, lot 18.• Gloria O’Neil, Oxford, block 8, lot 5.• Garry David Lee and Summer H. Lee, a parcel of land near 904 N. Marshall Street, Anniston.

• Hamlin B. Martin, Wakefield’s addition to Melrose, lot 7.• Alfred Glenn Bentley and Sylvia C. Bentley, a parcel of land in section 25, township 16, range 6.• Julie Horne, Plainview subdivision, 3rd addition, block 3,

lot 6.• Russell A. Craig, Ragan’s subdivision, block 1, lot 3.• David Johnson and Jelizabeht Johnson, Quail Run subdi-vision, block A, lot 18.

The Anniston Star

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WE BUY GOLDSilver and Diamonds

DIAMOND DEPOT • Snow St., Oxford - Across from Cheaha Bank • (256) 365-2087284436

CALENDAR: AnnistonStar.com/calendar

• Wells Fargo Bank to Housing & Urban Development, Brown Acres, lot 37, $1.• Lance Turner to Douglas A. Pass, a parcel of land near 1018 Corbin Street, Oxford, $10.• Larry V. Couch and Jimmie Couch to Amanda Michelle Couch Henry, Brandon F. Couch, Larry V. Couch and Jimmie Couch, a par-cel of land in section 2, township 13, range 8, $1.• Larry V. Couch and Jimmie Couch to Amanda Michelle Couch Henry, Larry V. Couch and Jimmie Couch, a parcel of land in sections 2/11, township 13, range 8, $1.• Larry V. Couch and Jimmie Couch to Amanda Michelle Couch Henry, Brandon F. Couch, Larry V. Couch and Jimmie Couch, a par-cel of land in section 3, township 13, range 8; section 34, township 12, range 8, $1.• Jimmie F. Couch to Brandon F. Couch and Jimmie F. Couch, For-mosa subdivision, lots 1 and 2, $1.• Jimmie F. Couch to Amanda Michelle Couch Henry and Jim-mie F. Couch, a parcel of land in section 14, township 13, range 8, $1.• Louise S. Fant to 2012 Irrevo-cable Trust for Residence, Boozer Farm subdivision, block 14, lot 5; Nelson’s addition to Pinewood, lot 10, $10.• Jeanette S. Brock to 2012 Irrevo-cable Family Trust, College Hills subdivision, lot 13, $10.• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, a parcel of land in section 27, township 14, range 7, $10.• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, a parcel of land in section 14, township 13, range 8, $10.• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, Five-W Lakesite subdivi-sion, block 10, lot 25, $10.• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, a parcel of land in section 26, township 14, range 7, $10.

• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, a parcel of land in section 28, township 14, range 7, $10.• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, a parcel of land in section 22, township 14, range 7, $10.• Carr Land Co. Inc. to Ronnie H. Carr, a parcel of land in section 3, township 16, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 27, township 14, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 27, township 14, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 14, township 13, range 8, $10.• Eagle’s Landing LLC to Mark Edward Almaroad and Heather Marie Almaroad, Eagle’s Landing, 4th addition, lot 103, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Fami-ly Limited Partnership, Five-W Lakesite subdivision, block 10, lot 25, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 26, township 14, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 22, township 14, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 3, township 16, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 27, township 14, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 28, township 14, range 7, $10.• Ronnie H. Carr to Carr Family Limited Partnership, a parcel of land in section 22, township 14, range 7, $10.

• Cecil King to Lynn R. Stubbs and Patricia L. Stubbs, Parkwood subdivision, section A, block E, lot 3, $40,000.• Michael D. Burford to Twin View Acres Farm LLC, a parcel of land in section 16, township 15, range 9, $10.• John E. Ward to Gregory D. Ward, fractions O/N/H of frac-tional section 19, township 14, range 6, $17,000.• Southern States Bank to MUSA Properties LLC, a parcel of land in sections 20/21, township 16, range 8, $10.• Sylvia Bentley and Keith Bent-ley to Michael C. Jones and Laura C. Jones, Edgefield Farm subdivision, 5th addition, lot 157, $510,000.• Bruce A. White and Pamela J. White to Michael D. Gross, Julie M. Gross, Joshua A. Martin and Cristina M. Martin, re-subdivi-sion of Grandview, 2nd addition, lot 6; Grandview, 8th addition, lot 71, $180,000.• Charles Robinett-Estate to Shila M. Abney, Carriage Hills subdivi-sion, 1st addition, block 3, lot 18, $97,500.• Paul Baker to Jimmy L. Kitch-ens and Linda D. Kitchens, Lake-shore Estates subdivision, lot 5, $168,000.• Victoria Lynn Kesler to Judy P. Fite, Held & Antonio’s subdivi-sion, block 47, lot C, $65,000.• Dorothy Longmire to Okla Blan-kenship, Anniston City Land Co., block 313, lot 6, $500.• Alabama Specialty Products Inc. to Latson P. Sullivan Jr. and Ange-la J. Sullivan, Greenbrier subdivi-sion, block C, lot 7, $70,000.• Dolores S. Miller and Craig Miller to Craig Miller, McCall’s subdivision in Clubview Heights, block 5, lot 6, $10.• Shirley B. Brown to Shirley B. Brown 2012 Revocable Trust, a parcel of land in section 31, town-

ship 13, range 8, $10.• Bobbye H. Phillips-Estate to Tony R. Owens and Cynthia D. Owens, a parcel of land in section 19, township 16, range 8, $10.• Kirk Pembrook Sr. and Angela Pembrook to Habitat for Human-ity of Calhoun County Inc., a par-cel of land in section 4, township 14, range 6, $10.• Habitat for Humanity of Calhoun County Inc. to Kirk Pembrook Sr. and Angela Pembrook, a parcel of land in section 4, township 14, range 6, $64,000.• Arthur J. Harris and Alice J. Har-ris to Adam Johnson and Misty Johnson, Deer Trace, lot 7, $10.• Carol S. Hall and Ernest V. Hall to Ernest V. Hall and Carol S. Hall, Anniston Land Co., block 536A, lot 8, $1.• Shirley Davidson to Edward F. Davidson, a parcel of land in sec-tion 15, township 16, range 7, $10.• Margaret Carlisle-Estate to Misty Clayton, J.D. Elder’s subdi-vision, lot 13, $10.• Barbara Gail Amberson to Bob-bie J. Keahey, Standard-Coosa-Thatcher Co., block 25, lot 1, $10.• Wilma Miller and Jerry P. Miller-Estate to Jerry and Wilma Miller Family LLC, a parcel of land in sec-tion 26, township 14, range 9, $10.• Housing & Urban Development to T & K Properties LLC, Buck-horn subdivision, phase V, lot 32, $53,000.• Regan E. Johnson and Kennis B. Johnson to Kenneth J. Jones Jr. and Carla Jones, Mountainview subdivision, lot 44, $10.• Bernadine A. Harron 2009 Revo-cable Trust to Tracy Barnett, Norton’s addition to Pinewood, lot 1; Strickland’s addition to Pine-wood, 2nd addition, lot 32, $10.• James Rodney Williams and Donna Bailey Williams to Edmond Daurelle and Cynthia Daurelle, a parcel of land in section 16, town-ship 16, range 8, $10.

• Dennis L. Smith to Anthony B. White and Kellie J. White, a par-cel of land in section 8, township 16, range 9, $10.• Kenneth Jackson Jones and Carla Dianne Jones to Andrew S. Lott and Jaici Lott, Property of John H. Jones, lot 3, $10.• Larry H. Troup to David A. Troup, a parcel of land in section 18, township 14, range 8, $10.• Michael S. Reynolds and Connie H. Reynolds to Connie H. Reyn-olds, Standard-Coosa-Thatcher Co., block 4, lot 13, $1.• Gerald W. Wilkerson to Jeffery D. Wade, Anniston Land Co., block 527E, lot 31, $61,500.• Kena Johnson to Spartan Value Investors LLC, Quail Run subdivi-sion, block A, lot 18, $10.• Gary W. McCurdy and Brea Ingram to Steven D. Beck and Leslie M. Beck, a parcel of land in section 5, township 13, range 10, $10.• Hansel A. Gardner and Aline R. Gardner to Hansel A. Gardner, Aline R. Gardner and Aline Fran-ces Mora, a parcel of land in sec-tion 32, township 14, range 7, $10.• Leeoma K. White to Leeoma K. White and Lesley Kay Steinberg, Reaves subdivision, block 2, lots 105-110, 112 and 114.• Gladys Willingham-Estate to James Eli Henderson and Caro-lyn F. Henderson, Beverly Hills subdivision, block 4, lot 1, $10.• Karen L. Kirkpatrick and Linda Ledbetter to Borden Grading LLC, Sara West Estate, lots 11 and 14, $10.• Kessler Land Agency Inc. to Borden Grading LLC, Sara West Estate, lots 12 and 13, $10.• Hatchet Creek Land Co. LLC to Borden Grading LLC, Sara West Estate, lots 9 and 10, $10.• Mary Frances Canale and John Canale to John Canale and Steve Canale, a parcel of land in section 26, township 15, range 9, $10.

PROPERTY TRANSFERRED

The Anniston Star Sunday, January 6, 2013 Page 7ESUNDAY RECORD

Schools look to graphic novels as learning toolBY DIANE RADO

Chicago Tribune

In honors English class at Alan B. Shepard High School, sopho-mores are analyzing Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” with the help of another book filled with drawings and dialogue that appears in bubbles above charac-ters’ heads.

“Capote in Kansas” is what generations of kids would recog-nize as a comic book, though it has a fancier name — a graphic novel.

That honors students at the Palos Heights, Ill., high school are using it illustrates how far the controversial comic-strip novels have come in gaining acceptance in the school curriculum, educa-tors say.

Once aimed at helping strug-gling readers, English language learners and disabled students, graphic novels are moving into honors and college-level Advanced Placement classrooms and attracting students at all levels.

They’re listed as reading material for students in the new “common core” standards being adopted across the country, even though some naysayers still ques-tion their value in the classroom.

There’s no data on precisely how many schools nationwide use graphic novels. But no one disputes that in other markets the popularity of the comic-style books — adapted to classic litera-ture, biographies, science, math and other subjects — is on the rise.

Karen Gavigan, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina who has focused her research on graphic novels, points out that their sales have increased by nearly 40 percent over the past 10 years. And public libraries have seen significant increases in circulation after add-ing such material to their collec-tions.

“A whole range of kids just love these,” Gavigan said.

Fans abound in English teach-er Eric Kallenborn’s sophomore honors class at Shepard.

“It perfectly complemented ‘In Cold Blood,’” sophomore Kyle Longfield said of “Capote in Kan-sas.” He believes the story helped him better understand Capote’s groundbreaking book about two killers and their brutal murders in Kansas.

On a recent day, Kyle, 16, led his fellow honors students

through a discussion that com-pared the depiction of Capote in the comic-book novel to the author’s voice and literary style in “In Cold Blood.”

That discussion would have been considered unusual in the past.

Just ask Daniel Argentar, a communication arts instructor at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. Along with a col-league, he introduced the graphic novel “Maus” to some struggling freshman readers about eight years ago.

“People thought we were crazy,” Argentar said.

The Holocaust-related book won a special Pulitzer Prize award in 1992, the first graphic novel to do so.

At the time, many Stevenson students already had read Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust book “Night,” so Argentar was looking for an alternative that would appeal to students more attuned to the visual. Some colleagues didn’t think the comic-book format of “Maus” was rigorous enough, Argentar said, but students liked it.

A website he and his colleague created to help educators teach “Maus” still generates calls and emails from around the country, Argentar said.

Professor Gavigan said graphic novels help students develop

language skills, reinforce vocabu-lary and develop critical thinking skills, among other benefits.

The comic book-style format goes back decades or even cen-turies, depending on scholars’ interpretations. In the 1970s, the term graphic novel emerged when Will Eisner’s “A Contract with God” stories were published, Gavigan said.

“Then ‘Maus’ won the Pulitzer, and I think that changed every-thing,” she said. “I think that gave a lot of credibility to the format.”

More recently, graphic novels moved further into the main-stream when most states began adopting the new common core learning standards that guide schools on what students should learn.

Illinois adopted the rigorous standards in 2010, and the state’s public school students are sched-uled to be tested on them begin-ning in 2014-15.

“Graphic novels are specifical-ly addressed in the common core standards,” said Michelle Ryan, president of the Illinois Associa-tion of Teachers of English.

The standards refer to “texts” as the medium through which literature and reading skills are taught, Ryan said, and can include picture books used in kindergarten or the graphic nov-els available in high school.

“Graphic novels ... are specifi-

cally identified in the expected reading materials for students,” she said in an email.

That might surprise some par-ents who may not be familiar with graphic novels in the classroom or who may be wary of this mod-ern twist on literature.

Jennifer Williams’ son Larry Lesniak is in Kallenborn’s sopho-more honors course at Shepard. She admitted to being “a little opposed” when Larry and his younger brother began reading graphic novels.

“This is not a book,” Williams recalled saying when the boys picked out graphic novels at the library.

She remembers reading clas-sics by authors Edgar Allan Poe and John Steinbeck when she was a high school honors student. She also recalls not liking some of the material she had to read.

So if a graphic novel can hold her sons’ interest, “I’m all for it,” Williams said.

Whether districts will increase their use of graphic novels is unclear and likely will depend on a buy-in from teachers and cur-riculum officials, experts said.

“I don’t teach a lot of graphic novels only because there are cer-tain hoops to jump through,” said Brian Curtin, an English teacher at Schaumburg High School and the 2013 Illinois Teacher of the Year.

In most districts, an approval process determines which text-books and other books are used. In his district, very few graphic novels get a green light, he said.

Curtin said he loved the graph-ic novels he read in his master’s classes and believes they can help build comprehension and engage unmotivated readers. But “I think you’d be on a slippery slope to look at graphic novels as a substi-tute for the real thing,” he said.

In Oak Lawn-based Com-munity High School District 218, which includes Shepard High, English department curriculum director Mike Jacobson said he “grew up on comic books.”

He has embraced graphic nov-els as a teaching tool, he said, giv-ing teachers leeway to use them.

English teacher Kallenborn has used graphic novels ranging from a version of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to “Maus” and “Ulti-mate Spider-Man.”

He joined Jacobson and another teacher last month in a presentation at a National Coun-cil of Teachers of English confer-ence. Their discussion included Kallenborn’s experiment with senior Advanced Placement and honors students who were study-ing the epic Old English poem “Beowulf.”

Half the students spent nearly six hours on average reading the full traditional text. The other half, who read a “Beowulf” graph-ic novel, spent about two hours.

Both groups took the same 25-question multiple-choice test. Students who read the traditional text scored 81 percent on average compared with 75 percent for those who read the graphic novel.

The teachers’ presentation raised the question: Is the score difference worth the additional time spent by kids who read the traditional poem or “would that time be better spent doing other things?”

Though the audience didn’t respond, Kallenborn believes the score difference of 6 percentage points isn’t worth the extra read-ing time.

James Bucky Carter, an assis-tant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, wrote a book that guides teachers in pairing graphic novels with traditional texts.

“I think we live in an age where we should not study text in isola-tion,” he said. “Every text should be put in relation to something else,” such as graphic novels as supplements to traditional litera-ture.

Chuck Berman/MCT

The students in Eric Kallenborn's sophomore honors English class at Alan B. Shepard High School discuss the graphic novel, ‘Capote in Kansas,’ by Ande Parks and Chris Samnee, and contrast it with the novel it is based on, Truman Capote's ‘In Cold Blood.’

Embracing ‘visual literature’