Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty
Written by: Tania del Rio
Illustrated by: Bill Galvan
Publisher: Archie Comics
Format: Hardcover, 5.5 x 8, 224 pages, Black and White, $13.99
ISBN: 9781936975372
Review
What impresses me the most about the new Archie titles is that they are perfectly suited for a new generation of readers, readers who – like my own students just did the other day – may assume these are indeed brand-spanking-new characters and storylines!
Riverdale High School may be a new setting. Betty and Veronica are reintroduced. So are Jughead, Archie, Reggie, and much, much more. And although these may be familiar places and nostalgic characters for some of us, they are brilliantly recreated by Archie Comics for today’s young adult readers. In this case, today’s young adult readers meet Betty. Through Betty’s diary-perspective, entitled Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty, today’s young adult can build the same positive and familiar memories about their own time and place in history at Riverdale High.
Trying “Not. To. FREAK OUT!” Betty is a Freshman at Riverdale and starts a 720 day countdown to when she must not only decide upon and head off to a college of her choice, but also survive each and every day of her Riverdale High experience. Similarly perfect for familiar readers to reacquaint themselves and perfect for a whole new generation of readers Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty.
Elements of Story
Plot: Written for an entirely new generation of readers Archie Comics Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty this story sees the Riverdale High experience specifically through Betty’s diary.
Major Characters: Betty, Jughead, Archie, Veronica, Reggie, the Nerds, the Goths, the Hipsters, the Jocks, the Glossies, various teachers and administrators, Dilton, Moose, Midge, Hot Dog, Jo/Mrs. King, Xander, Betty’s mom and dad, Miss Cooper
Major Settings: Riverdale High School, Betty’s home and neighborhood
Themes: Identity, Family, Teamwork and Individualism, Coming of Age, Friendship, Relationships, Goals and Expectations
Recommended Common Core Standards
Note: Relative to Common Core Standard alignment and instructor discretion this graphic text could be taught in both K – 5th grade classrooms and/or 6th – 12th grade classrooms, especially in regards to Key Ideas and Details.
Key Ideas and Details
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Lesson Plan
Directions: Below is a table for recording how the key ideas and details in this graphic text resonate between characters and themes. As you read, please take notes that discuss each character’s relation to each theme.
| Betty | Veronica | Jughead | Archie | Moose | Dilton | Betty’s Mom & Dad |
Identity
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Family
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Teamwork & Individualism
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Coming of Age
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Friendship
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Relationships
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Goals & Expectations
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About the Author
DR. KATIE MONNIN is an Associate Professor of Literacy at the University of North Florida. Besides the joy that comes with reading comic books and graphic novels, Dr. Monnin enjoys a Peter Pan-ish life of researching and writing her own books about teaching comics, graphic novels, and cartoons: Teaching Graphic Novels (2010), Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels (2011), Using Content-Area Graphic Texts for Learning (2012), Teaching Reading Comprehension with Graphic Texts (2013), and Get Animated! Teaching 21st Century Early Reader and Young Adult Cartoons in Language Arts (2013); Teaching New Literacies in Elementary Language Arts (in press, 2014). When she is not writing (or sitting around wondering how she ended up making an awesome career out of studying comics and graphic novels), Dr. Monnin spends her time with her two wiener dogs, Sam and Max.
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