PHOTONOVEL

noun Also written photo-novel (Lifestyle and Leisure) (Youth Culture) A piece of (usually romantic) fiction for young adults, in which the story is told in strip-cartoon fashion as a series of photographs with superimposed speech bubbles (rather than actual cartoons). Etymology: Formed by compounding: a novel told in a series of photos. History and Usage: The photonovel, which is often published in serial form with each individual story sometimes known as a photonovelette, was originally a popular form of romantic fiction for European (especially Italian) teenagers, dating from at least the early sixties. In the late seventies the idea was imported to the US with some success, being used among other things for the 'book' publication of a number of films for teenagers such as Grease and Alien. By the mid eighties, photonovel series were available in the UK as well; their popularity among certain groups of young people was seen by some as a symptom of declining literacy. Photonovels are here...These photonovels are the American counterparts of magazines that have been raging successes in Europe for decades. Daily News (New York) 11 July 1978, p. 40 He...fronted a rock band, wrote a porno photo-novel, and for a decade worked for the state phone company. Time 30 Jan. 1989, p. 68 See also graphic novel