An appealing volume for graphic novel and science enthusiasts.
The life of the first female Nobel Prize winner is told in flashback by her daughter Irène.
Marie’s story picks up in 1889 when she worked as a governess for a Polish family. In the wake of a failed courtship, Marie moved to Paris, near her sister and her husband, to pursue a second degree, this time in mathematics. It was through her brother-in-law that she met Pierre Curie, who became a supportive friend, mentor, colleague, and, ultimately, a beloved spouse. Together they researched the nascent field of radioactivity, earning a Nobel Prize in physics in 1903. Along with her career ambitions and success, the book addresses struggles from the Russian occupation of her native Poland and Pierre’s tragic death in a carriage accident to the scandal of her close relationship with fellow scientist Paul Langevin. Though largely a straightforward biography, Italian author and illustrator Milani (co-contributor: Post Pink, 2019, etc.) does take some poetic license in the dialogue, including a dream sequence in which Marie converses with Pierre after his death. The tender, loosely impressionistic colored pencil and watercolor illustrations add liveliness and warmth to this recounting of a remarkable life. Though Curie is one of the rare women in science to be a frequent biographical subject, this graphic novelization of her life is nevertheless a worthy addition to the canon.
An appealing volume for graphic novel and science enthusiasts. (biographical information, timeline, bibliography, source notes) (Graphic biography. 12-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-2817-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
A tribute to young people’s resistance in the face of oppression.
In 1983 South Korea, Kim was learning to navigate university and student political activism.
The daughter of modest restaurant owners, Kim was apolitical—she just wanted to make her parents proud and be worthy of her tuition expenses. Following an administrator’s advice to avoid trouble and pursue extracurriculars, she joined a folk dance team where she met a fellow student who invited her into a banned book club. Kim was fearful at first, but her thirst for knowledge soon won out. As she learned the truth of her country’s oppressive fascist political environment, Kim became closer to the other book club members while the authorities grew increasingly desperate to identify and punish student dissidents. The kinetic manhwa drawing style skillfully captures the personal and political history of this eye-opening memoir. The disturbing elements of political corruption and loss of human rights are lightened by moving depictions of sweet, funny moments between friends as well as deft political maneuvering by Kim herself when she was eventually questioned by authorities. The art and dialogue complement each other as they express the tension that Kim and her friends felt as they tried to balance school, family, and romance with surviving in a dangerous political environment. References to fake news and a divisive government make this particularly timely; the only thing missing is a list for further reading.
A tribute to young people’s resistance in the face of oppression. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945820-42-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Iron Circus Comics
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way.
Navigating high school is hard enough, let alone when your parents are CIA spies.
In this graphic memoir, U.S. citizen Glock shares the remarkable story of a childhood spent moving from country to country; abiding by strange, secretive rules; and the mystery of her parents’ occupations. By the time she reaches high school in an unspecified Central American nation—the sixth country she’s lived in—she’s begun to feel the weight of isolation and secrecy. After stealing a peek at a letter home to her parents from her older sister, who is attending college in the States, the pieces begin to fall into place. Normal teenage exploration and risk-taking, such as sneaking out to parties and flirtations with boys, feel different when you live and go to school behind locked gates and kidnapping is a real risk. This story, which was vetted by the CIA, follows the author from childhood to her eventual return to a home country that in many ways feels foreign. It considers the emotional impact of familial secrets and growing up between cultures. The soft illustrations in a palette of grays and peaches lend a nostalgic air, and Glock’s expressive faces speak volumes. This is a quiet, contemplative story that will leave readers yearning to know more and wondering what intriguing details were, of necessity, edited out. Glock and many classmates at her American school read as White; other characters are Central American locals.
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way. (Graphic memoir. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45898-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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