Description
Book SynopsisA deeply emotional visual representation of a teenager s confusion. Still reeling from the death by suicide of his drug addicted father, Travis moves in with his grandmother to become her caretaker as she battles cancer. Meanwhile he tries to live a typical teen life of pulling pranks, occasional shoplifting, dating, and endless drives through the twisting backroads of Central Massachusetts with Nirvana s Nevermind as the soundtrack. When the police intervene after a prank backfires, the boys realize that their time as children is rapidly disappearing and they may never fully understand each other as they move apart. After his Lynd Ward Prize-winning graphic novel, King of King Court, explored the power that parents hold over their children s emotional lives, Travis Dandro employs his signature dream imagery and crass humour to tell the story of teenage independence and resilience as he prepares to head off to art school. Hummingbird Heart is a detailed and stylish account of a time of great uncertainty. Dandro s densely crafted pages create a deeply emotional experience as his story swings from character confrontation to finely-wrought domestic detail a slapstick cafeteria destroying brawl gives way to the beautifully rendered flight of the impossible hummingbird.
Trade ReviewTravis Dandro uses words, pictures, pattern, and texture to conjure moments from his life that are at once specific and fleeting. In its remembrance of profound loss and deep love for friends and family, Hummingbird Heart beats fast but feels timeless. - Jason Lutes, author of Berlin. Dandro has a gift for the cinematic. Times Literary Supplement. This is a powerful debut, skilfully drawn, cleverly told and as raw as a wasp sting. The Guardian. Inventive... A visually engaging and human story of early trauma and how art and the imagination persist through the toughest of times. Library Journal
