Friday 12 February 2010 at 2:08 pm
David Small, a renowned and respected illustrator, grew up in silence, literally and figuratively. In his new graphic memoir he recalls his childhood, from being zapped with radiation to cure health problems to losing a vocal cord from cancer. His mother speaks in slamming cupboards and rattling plates. His father, a radiologist, speaks in punching bags, medical jargon, and the soft puff of his pipe. Small's older brother, Ted, bangs on drums. And David colors pictures on the living room floor. They don't say what needs to be said. They avoid each other, or more likely, ignore each other. A growth noticed on Small's throat at age 11 isn't operated on until age 14, and his family doesn't even directly tell him it's cancer until he inadvertently finds out and asks them about it. This is a book about familial communication at its worst.
However, as dark and depressing as it sounds, David Small's Stitches searches for meaning beyond a pity party. It often finds humor, both dark and absurd, in Small's chilling childhood (alliteration accidental.) A good amount of the praise for this book compares it to a silent movie. It's an easy comparison; this family hardly ever has direct dialogue with each other. It is also a fair comparison. It isn't hard to see the text as title cards in between scenes. They also help with the humor of the book, giving it the kind of absurd cutaway humor fans of Scrubs or Better Off Ted might enjoy. In particular, David's mother tells the story of how his grandfather died by driving off a cliff. The text is put on the opposite page of a fairly hilarious panel of an upside-down car. Dark. But funny.
Then there is the not so funny. The sad. The terrifying. The sickening. This family doesn't know how to communicate. Sometimes they choose not to communicate. There is a reoccurring theme of Small's family pounding on things. Panels are filled with sound-effects. But no words. Ideas and feelings are being conveyed. They are, however, guesses. Small doesn't know how his family actually felt. And neither does the reader. Small is only showing us how he felt in his dysfunctional home. And even admits in a short epilogue that he wishes he'd known more about his mother, who seems villainous much of the book. The most haunting image though comes during a trip to Small's grandmothers. He breaks an unspoken rule, and she drags him by the arm to punish him. Small captures the anger and terror of that action with a single panel: his grandmother's hand firmly around his skinny wrist.
Thursday 11 February 2010 at 5:26 pm
Your Mac Not As Fast As It Once Was? SOLUTION!
Is The Marble of Doom showing its colorful face more than you like? This Program May Be Able To Help.
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Thursday 11 February 2010 at 4:29 pm
With the recent event of the superbowl that almost everyone watches. I have come to ask you what your favorite sport is, why it is your favorite sport, and who your favorite player. Mine personally is football, but I will watch almost any sport. football is my favorite sport because it is a contact sport, and it is pretty great when a player gets wiped across the field like spreadable butter. Since I am an Eagles fan my favorite player would probably be DeSean Jackson.
Again I ask you to comment... please.
Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 8:32 pm
Wanna Get More Speed out of your PC? Here's how. (Part 1)
You Don't Need Money, you don't need an Administrative password, you don't even need to download anything, with a few easy well-explained steps. (This will only work with a Windows 2k, XP, Vista, or 7 PC).
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Monday 08 February 2010 at 12:06 pm
Gordon Korman is coming! Check below or to your left for the official countdown!
Wait! What? You don't know who Gordon Korman is? Well, alright. Quick introduction. Korman is an author (this is a library after all.) He's written books for young adults and children, including,
No More Dead Dogs,
Son of Interflux,
Sixth Grade Nickname Game,
Jake, Reinvented, and
Pop. That's only a handful of his, like, million books. His biography on his website says he has 55 books to his credit, but that was before his
On The Run series, which I am talking about today. So let's say, he has written close to 70 books by now. Maybe as many as 74 by now. He was born in Canada in 1963, and will be nearing his birthday when he visits. To learn more visit his
website.
Alright . . . do you feel properly introduced?
Good! Then let's get to why we are really here.
On the Run!
On the Run is an adventure story that begins in a prison work camp for juveniles. Two kids, Aiden and Meg Falconer have been put there to protect them after their parents have been found guilty of treason. Of course, their parents are innocent. They, the Falconer parents, were working for the government when their information fell into the wrong hands. However, their handler, the only person who knows of their work for the government, has disappeared. Thus, there is no evidence to prove their innocence. So the kids decide to escape from the prison camp, break a few laws, follow the clues, and exonerate their parents.
Whew. Action and adventure is the name of the game in this first installment of On the Run, Chasing the Falconers. Aiden and Meg are both smart and strong-willed, but when they team up with one of the camp's more violent felons, they struggle with ethical choices that may keep them one step ahead of the law. Korman keeps the pace quick, piling chase sequence after chase sequence. The quick pace and action should keep younger, more reluctant readers flipping the pages, but it is the characters and dilemmas that will keep older readers involved too.
