I’m ilovetaylorswift and I like to read books; to completely immerse myself in the world that the author has created. I forget everything around me when I read.  The troubles and worries that present themselves to me are all gone when I read the words so carefully crafted on the pages of a book.

After reading a book, I like to dive deeper into the world that was presented to me. Usually, I will look online to read blogs, I will read reviews, and I will look into the author’s other works. The story started long before I decided to read about it.

A graphic novel I discovered recently has really helped me dive deep into who and what authors were before their best works is “Before They Were Authors: Famous Authors as Kids” by Elizabeth Haidle. This graphic novel, although maybe intended for kids, this book is also inspiring for high school students or even adults who feel as if they haven’t grasped onto their full potential yet. No one is successful from the start, they must work hard to achieve their dreams.

Recently in my English class, we read “The House on Mango Street”. The writing style, the formatting, no use of quotation marks, short chapters, all of that was chosen by the author. Reading this graphic novel featuring Sandra Cisneros before her writing was eye opening and I could deeply connect the book to her life experiences as a Mexican American. Not only does knowing more about the author connect you to the book, it is eye opening and provides a background to what you’re reading.

Referring to Goodreads, “Before They Were Authors” received a total of 4.04 stars out of five. 30% of 228 people rated it with five stars and 43% rated it with four stars. 

Not only is this graphic novel filled with interesting facts by various household name authors, there is also diversity in who she has chosen to write about. Ranging from Roald Dahl to the author of classic literature, Mark Twain. 

For anyone who doesn’t want to read chunky biographies, a graphic novel helps you get all the important information with visuals. The author sets up easy frames to read and the drawing style is easy to understand.