Celebrate Graphic Novels
These two titles embody what graphic novels can and should be… compelling, original, emotional, artistic and more. Like many of the genre’s greats, they masterfully carve plot and narrative arch, and develop characters with psychological depth. This hybrid-form is captivating in its ability to merge words and graphics in original and arresting ways, illuminating new perspectives and leading us into fresh territory.
The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry is a beautifully rendered epic that makes it clear that fact can trump fiction. Publisher’s Weekly said, “The subtitle barely captures the scope of this ambitious debut graphic novel, a mix of biography, history, social commentary, literary analysis, and more…Blair’s exceptional pen-and-ink work, which mixes the tangible world with the psychological, brings all the strands together seamlessly and powerfully.”
It was a hunting accident that much Charlie is sure of. That’s how his father, Matt Rizzo–a gentle intellectual who writes epic poems in Braille–had lost his vision. It’s not until Charlie’s troubled teenage years, when he’s facing time for his petty crimes, that he learns the truth. Matt Rizzo was blinded by a shotgun blast to the face but it was while participating in an armed robbery. Newly blind and without hope, Matt began his bleak new life at Stateville Prison. In this unlikely place, Matt’s life and very soul were saved by one of America’s most notorious killers, Nathan Leopold Jr., of the infamous Leopold and Loeb.
Josephine goes a step further and offers a moving personal memoir that speaks volumes in pictures alone. Kevin Sacco brings us a wordless Civil Rights-era tale of a young boy with a complicated family life who accompanies his family’s domestic – Josephine – from his Upper West Side comforts to her neighborhood haunts in Harlem. This journey subtly imbues the boy with a world view as full of blacks, whites and grays as the story’s art. At the heart of this narrative is the bond the boy shares with Josephine – until a sinister plot twist casts a dark shadow on their relationship.
Dan Weiss
Dan is currently the director of the Fanwood (NJ) Memorial Library. Since he accepted that position in 1997 he has dramatically taken this small suburban library into the 21st century with improvements in facilities, staffing and service. He has served locally, regionally and state wide on many civic and library related committees and boards. In his current position Dan gets to do it all, from overseeing web development, graphics design and renovations, to public relations and fund-raising, all while being the go-to-guy for overflowing toilets and salting the front walk. With his colleague, Meg Kolaya, Dan started the consulting firm Library Connections that developed the nationally recognized and award-winning Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected project. They produced a customer service training video (updated in 2014) and website primarily for library staff to help them serve individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families more effectively. Dan and Meg have given many customer service and autism workshop presentations and keynote addresses, participated in conferences, taught online courses and consulted both locally and around the United States. After hours, Dan continues his varied music career, now with well over 50 years of performing, singing and playing the guitar. He loves all kinds of music with a special fondness for vocalists (Hank Williams, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday and George Jones), bluegrass, honky-tonk, and acoustic roots country. Check www.dannyweiss.com to find out where to hear him next.