Interview: Jim Ottaviani
On Sunday, May 8th, while attending the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, I ran around to as many of my favorite kids comics creators as I could and asked them all the exact same questions. Keep in mind, conventions are crazy loud and crazy busy, so there is a lot of background noise. Let me know in the comments if you have trouble hearing anything and I’ll translate for you.
I like that Jim Ottaviani has a secret origin. I like that Jim Ottaviani is enthusiastic about being a librarian. I like that Jim Ottaviani uses the graphic novel format to write amazingly readable non-fiction for kids, teens, and adults (and as someone who doesn’t naturally gravitate to non-fiction, that’s saying something). I like that Jim Ottaviani works with some amazing artists, including Leland Myrick, Zander and Kevin Cannon, Dylan Meconis, and Janine Johnston. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like Jim Ottaviani.
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Books mentioned in this video:
- Prime Baby, by Gene Luen Yang
- American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
- Bone series, by Jeff Smith
- Anya’s Ghost, by Vera Brosgol
- Mercury, by Hope Larson
- Smile, by Raina Telgemeier
- Zero Gravity: Astronaut Academy vol 1, by Dave Roman
- Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
Filed under: Interviews, Uncategorized

About Eva Volin
Eva Volin is the Supervising Children's Librarian for the Alameda Free Library in California. She has written about graphic novels for such publications as Booklist, Library Journal, ICv2, Graphic Novel Reporter, and Children & Libraries. She has served on several awards committees including the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. She served on YALSA's Great Graphic Novels for Teens committee for three years and is currently serving on ALSC's Notable Books for Children committee.
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