Module 13- The Plain Janes

Book Cover Image:


Book Summary:
After some type of disaster hits Metrocity, Jane's parents move her out of the city and into a new school.  She meets and decides to befriend three girls who just so happened to be names Jane, Jayne, and Polly Jane.  The girls soon form P.L.A.I.N., which stands for People Loving Art in Neighborhoods, and begin setting up art work throughout the community, which causes a commotion in the neighborhood.  The police become involved and the Janes are soon faced with a decision as to whether they should stop the group in light of the disturbances that are happening, but they decide that they will continue with the club.

APA Reference of Book:
Castelluci, C., & Rugg, J. (2007). The plain janes. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Impressions:
The Plain Janes is a great example that graphic novels can have literary merit and can and do contain great story lines as well as great illustrations.  This book contains great characters who are not afraid to stand up for something that they believe in as well as trying to make the community a better place.  As many people who change the norm, the girls do face some opposition. This was the first graphic novel that I have read, and I truly enjoyed it, and could easily see the appeal that this genre has for teenagers.

Professional Review:
 In Castellucci's (Boy Proof, rev. 5/05) first graphic novel, Jane's life is turned upside-down when she's injured in an explosion outside a Metro City café--an implied terrorist attack. Her parents waste no time in moving to suburbia, where arty Jane finds her "tribe" in a quiet group of rejects: Jane (a theater nut), Jayne (a science nerd), and Polly Jane (a wannabe jock). Searching for a way to draw them out, Jane forms P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods) and engages their help in planning "art attacks." The group's whimsical efforts range from adding bubble solution to the town fountain to organizing the entire school to simultaneously break into song--and meet with proscription and persecution from the authorities. The core of this timely novel, though, is Jane's struggle to see the beauty of the world rather than its dangers. Pulling everything together is Jane's poignant correspondence with the comatose John Doe, a young man she rescued in the aftermath of the bomb and whose sketchbook (bearing the mantra "Art Saves") she borrowed for inspiration. The layered dialogue and emotion-laden visual dose-ups suggest character depth, and the clean-lined graphic format is uniquely suited to the art attacks, Rugg's warm gray-scale scenes conveying not just detail and scope but the drama, impact, and joy of unfettered expression.

Gross, C. (2007, July/August). The plain Janes. The Horn Book Magazine, 83(4), 390. Retrieved from http://archive.hbook.com/magazine/

Library Uses:
Have an "Introduction to Graphic Novels" book talk for parents and use this book as one of the books used to show that graphic novels can and do contain great stories and to help them understand the reasons that teens are interested in this genre.