Author/Illustrator Interview: Matt Phelan

I’m honored to have the amazingly talented Matt Phelan visiting Shelf Elf today for an interview about his upcoming graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn. His book is already snapping up many glowing reviews all around the kidlitosphere (right here, educating alice, Reading Rants, Welcome to my Tweendom) and I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if it’s on a fast train to Awardsville. This is a book to buy and linger over and read again and again. Welcome Matt!

How would you describe The Storm in the Barn to a potential reader?
The Storm in the Barn is a graphic novel set in the Dust Bowl about a boy who discovers a sinister figure hiding in the neighbor’s barn. It is part tall tale, part historical fiction, and part supernatural thriller.

What are you most proud of in this upcoming book?
The story was first and foremost in my mind. I wrote it first as a very detailed script, describing each individual panel. I started to worry about how it would look only after the story was set.

When you were working on this book, which came first, images or story?
Although I wrote the script before I began drawing, the initial inspiration for the book was visual. I was very influenced by the WPA photography of that time and it was those images of the Dust Bowl that started me thinking. Also, the villain of the story originated as an offhand doodle that I once made during a meeting at my old copywriting job.

In what ways do you think a typical urban kid in 2009 can relate to the experiences of Jack Clark, a kid growing up in the Dust Bowl?
I think Jack faces some universal challenges of being a kid: bullies, a feeling of uselessness, the desire to impress his father, the desire to save his family. I think most kids can relate to that feeling of being powerless yet wanting desperately to make things better.

The Wizard of Oz is an important element in The Storm in the Barn. Why did you choose to bring this text into your book? What did you hope it would add to the fabric of your story?
I wanted the book to be an American fairy tale and to incorporate elements of folklore and myth. The Jack Tales were the first stories I wanted to include, but since the story is set in Kansas, I naturally gravitated to the Oz books. They had been around for many years by the time this story takes place (1937) so I knew that these kids would be familiar with them (especially if you are a young girl in Kansas named Dorothy). Reading Ozma of Oz, I found some passages that I thought would work nicely as a sort of commentary on what was going on in my story. So I had Jack or Dorothy reading these passages out loud in two scenes.

The Storm in the Barn

Matt Phelan’s upcoming graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn, is really something. It is a thrilling and moving piece of historical fiction set in 1937 Kansas, with beautiful muted illustrations that practically make you taste the dust.

Jack Clark hasn’t had an easy childhood. It hasn’t rained for years and the tension in his small town couldn’t get much worse. At home, his father and mother have shrunk into themselves, barely able to hang onto the dreams they once had, and the farm life they used to know. One of his sisters is sick, with “dust pneumonia,” and the doctor hints that Jack’s increasingly strange and withdrawn behaviors might be “dust dementia.” He gets bullied by a group of local kids and his father never gives him the chance to prove his worth. One night, Jack ventures into the abandoned Talbot barn and what he finds there could change everything, if he’s brave enough to go back and face what’s inside.

It’s pretty clear that Matt Phelan is a tremendously gifted illustrator. The emotion that he can convey with the most understated colors and simple lines is remarkable. There is a sequence with a jackrabbit drive that will make you ache, every bit as gut-wrenching as how it could be portrayed on film. I loved the way the color shifts throughout, mirroring the changing tone of the narrative.

Also, as a complete aside, what is it with being eleven? I’ve read so many books with 11-year old protagonists lately. It ain’t easy to be 11, that’s for sure.

The Storm in the Barn will take your breath away. I cannot wait to read the rest of the graphic novels floating around in Matt’s head. Absolutely stunning.

Now, it won’t feel quite so much like just a sneaky grab if I post the aweomse book trailer at the end of my review. Try and wait until September:

Here are a few other rave reviews:

Reading Rants
The Book Bench
educating alice

The Storm in the Barn is published by Candlewick in September 2009.

Babymouse: Monster Mash

If you have not yet read this,

today’s the day folks!

You’ll love Babymouse just as much in orange and black. I promise.

Check out illustrator Matthew Holm’s celebration of his book hitting #1 on the Seattle Times Bestseller list. Cute!

Nonfiction Monday: No Girls Allowed

Need a little girl power to kick start your Monday morning? Look no further. Kids Can Press presents No Girls Allowed, a new book written by Susan Hughes, and illustrated in rockin’ graphic style by Willow Dawson. This book hits the mark in many ways. It offers readers short tales, in graphic format, of women throughout history who disguised themselves as men in order to shape their lives on their own terms. You’ll find the story of Hatshepsut, the female pharoah, and the tales of Mu Lan and Alfhild, the Viking warrior. Each mini-bio is quite short, around ten pages, so I imagine there will be a lot of readers who want to learn more about the women they read about here. Good thing there’s a list of Further Reading suggestions on the last page. Susan Hughes’ afterword, in which she leads readers to consider why women have faced different treatment throughout history to the present, is a good introduction for all young readers to a complex subject.

This one belongs in classrooms, as it matches strong kid-appeal with worthy content, and a contemporary feel.

Fashion Kitty Fantastic-ness

Question:

May I please be allowed to stay home from school tomorrow to read Fashion Kitty all day and eat cookies till I burst?

Answer:

Um… No.

One More Question:

Is it Friday yet?

Answer:

Um… No.

Darn it.

Then just allow me to say that I have only today discovered the utter fantastic-ness that is Charise Mericle Harper’s Fashion Kitty series. Do you know a tweenage girl who likes fashion, likes to laugh, likes a little sparkle and some gently-taught life lessons? Then I guess you know what to buy her for her next b-day.

Some Fashion Kitty Wisdom to tickle and inspire:

“There’s nothing that a tummy full of cookies can’t fix.”

“It is not very satisfying to do lots of arguing first thing in the morning before breakfast.”

“It is not a good thing to decide you don’t like someone before you even meet them, but it can happen.”

Grab a little Fashion Kitty. It’s what all the cool cats are reading this fall.

Rapunzel’s Revenge

How many Hales does it take to write a rollicking Graphic Novel? Well, in this case, three. Wife and husband team, Shannon and Dean Hale, have joined forces with another Hale, Nathan Hale (no relation), to produce a fantastical, fantastic new take on the story of Rapunzel. You’re going to love this. It’s adventurous, a tad romantic, and touched with magic too.

I don’t imagine many people would believe that a remake of Rapunzel could be very appealing to boy readers, however, I think Shannon and Dean have managed to create a snazzy new version of this classic tale that will keep boys and girls turning the pages. As in the original story, this Rapunzel was taken away from her mother as an infant and raised in a walled villa by a witch, here named Mother Gothel. Now when Rapunzel discovers the secret of her past, she makes her escape to search for her mother, who now slaves for Mother Gothel in the distant mines. Along the way, Rapunzel joins up with a rascal outlaw, Jack, and the two gallop about the wild west, fighting strange creatures and lowlife cowboy scoundrel types while Rapunzel plans her reunion with her mother and her revenge against Gothel.

Gosh this was fun. One of the best parts about this book for me is that it is such a departure from the original setting and time that I more or less completely forgot that it was built on an old, old tale. It feels super fresh, like an entirely new story. That can’t be easy to achieve when working with a story as well-known and loved as Rapunzel. But of course, we are in the hands of the master fairy-tale refurbisher here: Miss Shannon Hale. This is certainly a girl power narrative, but there is more than enough action to keep boys into it, with strong, bright, detailed art as a complement. Yum.

If you don’t love this one… I’ll grow super-long braids and ride off into the sunset.

Rapunzel’s Revenge will be released in August.

Read a few other reviews:

Reading Rants
The Reading Zone
A Year of Reading
Miss Erin

Ode to Jellaby

As mentioned in my post below, I’ve got Odes on the brain this month. So, I thought I would depart from the typical and offer up an Ode to Jellaby rather than a conventional review of Kean Soo’s adorable, lovely graphic novel. (No rhyming folks… it’s Sunday morning and I’ve only had one cup of coffee). Ahem:

Ode to Jellaby

Oh Jellaby, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
Thou art purple,
a secret,
a gentle giant.

Thou art a faithful friend to young Portia,
an eater of tuna fish sandwiches,
cut flowers
and ramen.

Thou art loyal,
and bold,
an outsider
far from home.

Thou art… a dinosaur?
A dragon?
An imaginary friend?

Whatever thou art, Jellaby,
this much is true,
I’m more than ready
for more of you.

Here’s some more Jellaby love:

Fuse’s Review
100 Scope Notes Review
A 7-year old’s review over at 123oleary

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel

I’ve been on a real Graphic Novel binge lately (Amelia Rules, Korgi, The Arrival, Persepolis 2). Am I discovering a new passion? I think maybe. I’ve been asking myself, “What took you so long?” It’s graphic novels like Artemis Fowl that are really getting me hooked.

First, you cannot really appreciate the cool-factor of the cover when it’s so eensy on the screen above. But doesn’t Artemis look particularly dastardly? Like a genius on a mission? Unless you’ve seen the book, you won’t know that his glasses contain a reflection of Holly Short, butt-kicking Recon fairy extraordinaire (in fantastic red foil no less). How could anyone resist, I ask? And inside, it just gets better. The art is exceptional. Giovanni Rigano is as genius as little Artemis. The characters seem  Manga-esque, but with a twist – somehow more human and individualistic.  Then the colour… oh the colour. Paolo Lamanna makes every one of Rigano’s illustrations spring from the page. It’s one luscious visual package.

Now for story. I’m one of those people who has read the first Artemis book, but never headed on to the rest. I think it could have been a case of right book, wrong moment. After reading and loving Airman recently, I’ve been meaning to take a look at the rest of Eoin Colfer’s books. Let’s just say that this Graphic Novel has pushed the other Artemis Fowl titles higher in the TBR pile. I do remembering finding aspects of the original novel a tad confusing, and I think that the graphic novel has some moments where there are leaps in the plot that are tricky to keep up with. The ending of the graphic novel leaves room for further adaptations of Colfer’s series.

Thoughts from others:
Oz and ends
BookWitch
Book Dweeb

Oh yeah, this was the Cybils Elementary/MG Graphic Novel Award Winner this year.

 

 

Korgi

OK. I’ve got 3 words that will make just about any person with a healthy dose of curiosity want to check out Christian Slade’s cute cute cute graphic novel fantasy: fire breathing corgi.

Got your attention now?

I’m a bit shy to admit that overall, I liked this little book. First off, I’m not much of a corgi believer (I know everyone says they’re lovely creatures, but they just look wacko with their little legs and barrel bodies). How ’bout a village full of corgis, large and small, living in tree houses? (I swear I’m not making this up people). Be this weirdness as it may, I defy you not to fall in love with our doggy hero the first time you see him leap with his tiny legs out of a giant hollow log as he races through the forest. What spunk! What gumption! (What short legs!) So Sprout the Korgi lives in Korgi Hollow with his owner/companion, Ivy. In this first installment of the series, Sprout and Ivy are put to the test when they wander away from their village and come face to face with some right nasty characters.

As you might expect, the best part of this book is the art (considering it’s almost entirely wordless, you’d better hope the illustration kicks). The relationship between the girl and her dog, and the range of emotions they experience as they journey through this adventure comes across perfectly throughout the story in the delicacy of the facial expressions. I also found the narrative to move along at a brisk and satisfying clip (in strange directions, yes, but it sure kept moving). The best part? I’m thinking it might be the very end, when the weird, angry, giant dust-bunny character reports back to his leaders to tell them about the power of the corgi. Hilarious.

This series is brought to us by Top Shelf Comix (makers of Owly). Like Owly, I imagine that Korgi will have a wide readership. I doubt it will be confined to the younger set. So come on. Give corgis a chance.

The Arrival

I’ve just spent a lovely chunk of my evening embracing Shaun Tan’s The Arrival... literally. I mean, I’ve actually been cradling the book in my arms and waxing philosophical to anyone who will listen. (My cat just abandoned my lap and wandered away rolling his eyes, in search of a quieter place to complete his snooze). I wouldn’t have believed I could love a Shaun Tan book as much as I adore his picture book, The Red Tree, but it would seem I am overruled.

I need hardly tell any book lover the premise of this story, as everyone bookish already knows. In fact, I was feeling a little shy about admitting that I hadn’t yet read The Arrival, but I simply can’t keep quiet about how moving and beautiful this book is. For those who’ve been hiding under a rock for the last six months, The Arrival is an immigration tale, the story of a man who leaves his home and family in search of a new life. It’s about the mystery, strangeness and magic of the new world. It’s about sacrifice and loneliness, young friendships, painful pasts and belonging. And, it doesn’t contain a single word. It’s all pictures. Glorious, glorious pictures.

I don’t want to write too much about this book, because I don’t want to overthink my response to it and take away from how rich and evocative an experience it was to read it for the first time. The man who arrives moves through the strange new city in sequences that feel vaguely dreamlike and full of wonder. So many emotions play through this story – loss, uncertainty, vulnerability, surprise, confusion, yearning, hope. There is an astonishing sense of scope and the narrative is utterly compelling, especially remarkable considering it’s a wordless book.

I’d like to know what person could possibly finish this book without wanting to open it right back up at the beginning and take it all in again. (I’d also like to know if everyone else who’s read it wants one of those crazy little cat/lizard/dino pets as much as I do). A book that makes me think as much as The Arrival does, automatically takes a giant step closer to a spot on my “special bookshelf,” for those books that make me feel content just by being what they are, perfectly.

One of the most powerful ideas that Tan’s story communicates is the notion that every story of immigration, every “arrival,” deserves respect and recognition, and that each such story is in some way, an original, highly personal experience, even though so so many others have taken journeys that seem similar.

There’s nothing I can write to convey exactly the way this book affected me. I would love to get kids reading it, lots of kids, and then listen in to their discussions later on. If you’re a teacher, you must read this. (If you’re not a teacher, you must read this). Anyone interested in using it in their classroom should check out what Monica Edinger’s awesome fourth grade class created in their unit of study on The Arrival. That’s what it’s all about people. Show this book to anyone who thinks graphic novels can’t stand up to “real literature.” Pshaw!