Stitches by David Small

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small

W.W.Norton and Company, New York, 2009

Stitches is an extraordinary memoir presented in graphic format. David Small, an award winning children's book author and illustrator, has written and drawn a story that covers his life from babyhood to adolescence.

The graphics are pen and ink and ink wash, beautiful, dark and sad. As with most parents, David's Mother and Father thought they were doing their best. Small illustrates the trauma and pain of childhood is a way that moves from reality to dream to nightmare, without being overly dramatic. David Small's story is intense but well told and his notes at the end reflect back on his parent's lives in a very kind and loving way.

This book is turning up on many "Best Books of the Year" lists and the recognition is well deserved.

A.D. New Orleans After th Deluge by Josh Neufeld

A.D. New Orleans After The Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Pantheon Books, New York, 2009

A harrowing depiction of what it was like to live through the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of that devastating event. Neufeld focuses on six very different people and their experiences before, during and after the storm.

Shortly after the hurricane Neufeld spent time as a volunteer with the Red Cross in Biloxi, Mississippi. The blog entries he kept about that experience turned into a self-published book, which then morphed into A.D. I would suggest that anyone who enjoys this book find and watch When the Levees Broke, a HBO documentary film made by Spike Lee. It will blow you away.

Four Pictures by Emily Carr by Nicolas Debon

Four Pictures By Emily Carr

By Nicolas Debon

A Groundwood Book,

Toronto and Berkeley, 2007

A beautiful graphic biography, aimed at readers 8 and up, about one of my favorite artists, Emily Carr. Nicolas Debon traces Carr's life through her paintings. The drawings and text lovingly depict the artist, the places and times she lived in.

Emily Carr was an extraordinarily gifted artist and she is all the more remarkable for being one of the very few women painters of her time. In the face of many challenges she pursued her own vision, basing her work on her great sense of curiosity and respect for the world surrounding her rather than on what was fashionable among artists of the period. From Nicolas Debon's introduction.

Choosing four paintings done at different times in Carr's life Debon draws four brief chapters that illustrate Emily's determination and character. He even uses bits of her paintings as background and places her within them. Four Pictures is a beautiful use of the graphic medium and an affectionate tribute to a strong and gifted artist.

Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry

Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry

Metropolitan Books, New York, 2008

A graphic novel that is rich and dark like the finest chocolate.

A story starring the sad-faced detective Fernandez Britten as the "The Heartbreaker", a dectective famed for finding out what you didn't really want to know about those you love.

Britten and his diminutive partner, Brulightly, take on the mysterious death of Bernie Kudos. Is his death a suicide or a murder? Lovely Charlotte Maughton wants to find out the truth about the death of her fiancee. As Britten digs deeper he uncovers blackmail and revenge and the startling possibility that to do the right thing one may need to be remain silent.

Beautifully drawn, with subtle washes of color, this book is a stunning first effort. I want to see more from Hannah Berry.

Robot Dreams By Sara Varon

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

First Second, New York & London, 2007

Another wonderful book published by First Second, this wordless graphic novel is all about friendship, loss and redemption. Robot Dreams is beautifully colored in soft muted tones.

We follow this story through a year, watching the seasons change month to month. It starts with Dog putting together a "build it yourself" robot. They watch movies, eat popcorn and spend time together. Due to a foolish mistake they become separated. We follow both their thoughts and dreams through the round of the year and finally to a bittersweet resolution. This is a lovely tale.

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

Translated from the Korean by Lauren Na

First Second, New York & London 2009

What a wonderful graphic novel! Again, First Second has published art in book form. The first of three in a series, I may just have to break my no-new-books vow and get the whole set.

The Color of Earth tells of the daily lives and about the world of two generations of Korean women. Sometime in the past, in a quiet rural village of Namwon, Ehwa lives with her mother, a widowed tavern keeper. They are best friends and tell each other many secrets. The story is filled with flowers and rain. In beautiful black and white drawings and poetic language we watch Ehwa growing up. As each spring passes she learns about herchanging body and begins to learn about life. As Ehwa grows, her mother, left alone at young age, rediscovers love.

The artist, Kim Dong Hwa is famous in Korean for creating sunjung, comics for young girls, known as shojo in Japan. The Color of Earth is something completely new, a sunjung style manhwa (manga in Japan), enjoying great success with an adult audience, both men and women. It is a beautiful book that tells a wonderful story. I can not wait to read the next part, The Color of Water.

White Rapid by Pascal Blanchet

White Rapids by Pascal Blanchet

translated by Helge Dascher

Drawn & Quarterly,

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

2007

White Rapids is graphic novel that tells the story of the tiny, company-built town of Rapide Blanc located deep in the forests of northern Quebec. Conceived and designed in 1928 by the Shawinigan Water & Power Company, who were building a hydro-power dam across the St. Maurice River, the town attracted engineers and workers needed to run the power station. Accessible only by railroad, it was a self-contained community, with churches, a school, a co-op and all kinds of modern amenities. Blanchet's retro-inspired art work, inked in browns and oranges, captures the feeling of the time, the belief that anything was possible with science and technology.

Blanchet tells the story clearly, with few words. It is a testament to the time and the the people who built and lived in Rapide Blanc. It is lovingly dedicated to his father. I really enjoyed this book and think would be a perfect introduction to the graphic novel genre.

Slow Storm by Danica Novgorodoff

Slow Storm by Danica Novgorodoff

First Second, New York & London 2008

A beautifully illustrated story of two young people, a illegal immigrant from Mexico and a women bullied and harassed by her brother and co-workers. Through a series of incidents they meet and spend time together.

The storm, a mix of thunder, lightening and tornadoes, brews around them and in them. The landscape, the people and animals are rendered in stunning ink and water color .

There is not much dialogue, it is not needed. Novgorodoff uses her art to tell this story, and I loved it. It is sad, kind and compassionate. Another fine title from First Second.

Aya and Aya of Yop City by Margerite Abouet

Aya and Aya of Yop City by Margerite Abouet

Illustrated by Clement Obrerie

Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

A lovely pair of graphic novels, beautifully illustrated and fun to read. A great choice if you haven't read a graphic novel before.

These are light-hearted stories of Aya, her relatives and her two friends living in a working class neighborhood called Yop City, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, during the mid 1970's., a time when the country was prosperous and politically stable.

Aya is studious, a hard worker, and hopes to finish her schooling and become a doctor. Her best friends are more interested in dancing and boyfriends and her father is a district manager who ends up traveling for his job. These relationships lead to some plot twists which the girls handle gracefully, despite their differences. The art work is wonderful, capturing the atmosphere of the city and it's people. And Abouet adds some interesting notes in the back of each book including a glossary, recipes and instructions for tying a pagne, the brightly colored cloth African women wear around their hips or their head. There is also an interview with the author included in Aya of Yop City. Enjoy these wonderful books!

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

First Second, New York, 2006

This is a beautifully rendered and well written book that braids together three story lines. The book open with a tale about the Monkey King, a famous Chinese trickster character, who crashes a party in heaven and wrecks havoc. Then we are introduced to Jin Wang, who has moved from San Fransisco to suburbia and entered a very white elementary school. Finally we meet Danny and his cousin Chin-Kee, a perfect representative of the stereotypical Chinese "coolie". Gene Yang does a wonderful job leading the reader in different directions until the final surprising resolution. This may be a bit confusing for some but it pays off in the end.

These stories are funny, poignant and combine to create a tale of race, identity, exclusion and self acceptance . This book has been awarded several prizes including the Printz Prize in 2007 and a National Book Award nomination. Like Laika, American Born Chinese would be a great introduction to the graphic novel genre.

Laika by Nick Abadzis

Laika By Nick Abadzis

First Second, New York, 2007

Nick Abadzis has written a chronicle of the early Soviet space program and the little dog sent up in a satellite, never to return to earth. It is a combination of fact and fiction, describing Laika's early life and the different characters involved with her. It tells of the political pressure to get a living being into space, the conflicts within the space program and the tender influence Laika had on those around her.

The story of her death was initially ignored by the European and U.S. press in favor of the "space race" and the cold war dilemma of Russian dominance in space. The question of animals sacrificed in the name of science was not one discussed at the time. Laika's death created an opening for this discussion to begin, perhaps paving the way for the demand to end to mistreatment of animals, the idea of animal rights and the creation of animal havens.

The sadness of the story is balanced by the beautifully drawn and colored graphics depicting the frigid wastes of Siberia, the street of Russian cities, the research laboratories and Laika's dreams of flying and "seeing everything from here." It would be a wonderfully introduction to the graphic novel genre but be forworned, I was in tears by the end of the book.