Heart Transplant - Hardcover

Andrew Vachss

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1595825754 ISBN 13: 9781595825759

Publisher: Dark Horse Books, 2010

Synopsis

School bullying is universally decried, bemoaned, and condemned. And on the rise. Whether it's a teenager committing suicide as a result of a Facebook posting or a group of schoolchildren taunting another child with autism and filming it for the "entertainment" of others, the longest-lasting, deepest-scarring impact of bullying is emotional, not physical. Failure to understand this has handicapped an already-insipid series of failed "solutions." Heart Transplant is aimed at actually changing the way we deal with perhaps the most critical issue for children and parents alike today. To accomplish this mission, an entirely new genre was created. Neither a graphic novel nor a self-help book, it uses elements of both to reach parents and children alike. The intermingling of word and art is achieved so smoothly that it is experienced as one does words-and-music: you may forget the lyrics and hum the tune, but that very act evokes the lyrics. And if it's the lyrics that stick with you, you'll find yourself humming the tune. The anchoring essay (by clinical social worker Zak Mucha) explains in prose detail what the reader has just experienced. This book will be shelved under "Parenting" and  "Young Adult." Why? Because there is no "Bullying" section in any bookstore. And if Heart Transplant hits either  target, it will hit both. Nothing like this has ever been tried before. But if it works, the high risk will be rewarded by the greatest prize of all.

About this title

About the Author

For more than three decades, best-selling author Andrew Vachss has fought the worst kind of bully: child abusers. In his law practice, he's represented children and youth exclusively. As art director for King Features for two decades, Frank Caruso has developed a style that speaks to all ages, for all ages. The anchoring essay--by clinical social worker Zak Mucha--explains in detail what the reader has just experienced ... and why that experience could change our world.

From Booklist

Let’s be clear right up front. This book expects to be taken seriously. Imbued with the same deadly sober earnestness and hard-bitten sentimentality as Vachss’ Burke novels, the story has some serious shit to lay on you. A nameless child, an outcast by age nine, finds his mother and her hated boyfriend apparently shot to death, and we follow along as he ends up with Pops, a gruff but impossibly wise grandfather figure, who teaches him to damned well show some backbone. Presented in a unique 10-by-13-inch, wide-screen format, Heart Transplant is not a graphic novel per se but rather has images free-floating among passages of dialogue and prose. This chiaroscuro impressionism, as if the world were being viewed through a haze of charcoal and shadow, creates powerful and evocative visuals for a ham-handed reworking of an admittedly important message: stand up for yourself. Worth adding to a collection on the strength of its design and images, or for readers who really need the message hammered home. Grades 6-9. --Jesse Karp

About this edition

• Publisher: Dark Horse Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1595825754
• ISBN 13: 9781595825759
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 100
• Illustrator: Frank Caruso