Tommy Donbavand 
Head is Dead! 

Arran, Baz and Jill are in trouble. They’ve accidentally killed their head teacher by mucking around in the school science lab. Now they have a choice – own up and take their punishment, or use what they can find in the lab to try and bring the head back to life before anyone notices. Guess which choice they go for? Graphic novels serve a number of needs. They encourage reluctant readers because of the high ratio of pictures to text and because they are viewed as a leisure activity rather than school work. In spite of this perception, pupils can learn a lot from them, such as the use of direct speech, the logical order in which to read text boxes and, of course, narrative forms. This brilliantly illustrated series of six books will excite and engage readers of about 11-13 who have a very low reading age of 6-7.