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An evocative graphic novel about a boy growing out of childhood
Dean and his friends have created an entire world in the woods behind their suburban housing development. In their army fantasy, they're at war, and Dean is the daring captain leading his troops through episodes of intrigue and danger.
But no fantasy can last forever. A run-in with a homeless man in the woods snaps the boys back to reality, and little by little the real world pervades their imagined universe and drives them apart.
Award-winning illustrator Kevin C. Pyle makes the popular graphic novel format accessible to middle-grade readers in this skillfully drawn and candidly written book. Blindspot tells the story of one boy's transition from childhood to adolescence in a way that will appeal to children and adults alike.
Pyle (Lab U.S.A.) uses the graphic novel format to powerful effect as he explores a boy's coming of age. Dean Tollridge and his friends love "playing army," running missions through the woods behind their houses and combating imaginary Nazis. But reality invades the thoughtful boy's fantasy milieu (an accidental library discovery of what the Holocaust really looked like; a lengthy and harrowing encounter with a homeless vet) and suddenly playtime takes on an unwelcome gravity. Pyle uses color as a brilliant storytelling tool: blues and browns for the real world, camouflage greens and browns for make-believe war scenes, and vivid flashes of full color in moments of strong emotion. What is remarkable is how much of the story lives in the pictures that are not drawn, the words that are not said. From a book of relatively few pages and minimal dialogue emerges a very robust set of characters, right down to the conflicted parents whose concern for their child unfolds in minimalist conversations of doubt and best intentions. This is a very smart and humane graphic novel that, by the sheer force of its narrow focus, resonates with a broad emotional range. Ages 9-12. (May)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Jeff Volsky
reviewed Blindspot on January 30, 2010
Blindspot
Blindspot by Kevin Pyle is a graphic novel that is intended for readers in grades three through six. However, it's theme of growing up from a little boy to a young man could be especially engaging for boys through high school. I gave it four stars. The story follows Dean, a young boy who enters an imaginary world when he is playing with his friends: he engages in dangerous army missions with his friends, doing battles in the woods, engaging in hand to hand combat, and destroying and going beyond enemy lines. (In reality, he is playing near train tracks, stealing clothing off an old neighbor's clothesline, and vandalizes a homeless man's makeshift shelter.) Dean lives in this world of army and war, countering authority figures of adults and teachers. However, after destroying a homeless man's home in battle and coming face to face with this enemy, Dean is snapped back into the real world, awakening to the real danger that combat and battles bring with it. He escapes, at the end, and is now living in every-day life, back to the reality of playing sports, drawing, and hanging out with friends. The themes of child versus adult, an imagined world versus reality, and danger versus safety can engage any young reader as they deal with finding their true place and identity within the real world. The illustrations, camouflage colors during army scenes and a tranquil blue during real life scenes, help the reader understand and feel the real feelings of Dean as he struggles with finding his place in life, which he learns is full of risk, danger, and misunderstandings but also full of compassion and understanding. The format of the graphic novel truly engages the reader, as we go on this journey with Dean through both text and images. As anyone growing up and searching for identity knows, there is a blurry and grayed line between what is real and what is not. It is up Dean, and to us, to decide where we want the story to go.
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