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Wall: Growing Up Behind The Iron Curtain
Wall: Growing Up Behind The Iron Curtain
by Sis, Peter
Price: $18.65
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Annotation: By joining memory and history, Sis takes us on his extraordinary journey: from infant with paintbrush in hand to young man borne aloft by the wings of his art.
Catalog Number: #19544
Details
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Copyright: 2007
Illustrator: Sis, Peter
Pages: 1 v. (unpaged)
Available: Yes
ISBN: 0-374-34701-8
Dewey: 092
LCCN: 2006-049149
Dimensions: 31 cm.
Binding Type: Perma-Bound
Subject Heading: American authors. 20th century, Illustrators, Sis, Peter,. 1949-. Childhood and youth, Czech Americans. Biography, Czechoslovakia. Social conditions. 1945-1992, Czechoslovakia. History. 1945-1992
Language: english
Reviewing Agencies: Caldecott Honor, Robert Sibert Honor, School Library Journal Starred Review, Starred Review for Publishers Weekly, Starred Review ALA Booklist, Starred Review Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Voice of Youth Advocates
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ALA Booklist
*Starred Review* In an autobiographical picture book that will remind many readers of Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis (2003), Sís’ latest, a powerful combination of graphic novel and picture book, is an account of his growing up in Czechoslovakia under Soviet rule. Written in several stands, the somewhat fragmented narrative never dilutes the impact of the boldly composed panels depicting scenes from Sís’ infancy through young adulthood. Throughout, terrific design dramatizes the conflict between conformity and creative freedom, often through sparing use of color; in many cases, the dominant palette of black, white, and Communist red threatens to swallow up young Peter’s freely doodled, riotously colored artwork. The panels heighten the emotional impact, as when Sís fleeing the secret police, emerges from one spread’s claustrophobic, gridlike sequence into a borderless, double-page escape fantasy. Even as they side with Peter against fearsome forces beyond his control, younger readers may lose interest as the story moves past his childhood, and most will lack crucial historical context. But this will certainly grab teens—who will grasp both the history and the passionate, youthful rebellions against authority—as well as adults, many of whom will respond to the Cold War setting. Though the term “picture book for older readers” has been bandied about quite a bit, this memorable title is a true example.
School Library Journal
Gr 4 Up-Personal, political, passionate-these are among the qualities that readers have come to appreciate about S's's autobiographical books such as The Three Golden Keys (Doubleday, 1994) and Tibet through the Red Box (Farrar, 1998). This layered foray into family and Czech history begins with succinct sentences at the bottom of each page. Captions accompanying the art-arranged in panels of varying size-fill in more details. The pacing and design of the compositions create their own rhythm, contributing much to the resulting polyphony. S's immediately engages even his youngest audience with a naked, cherubic self-portrait, colored pencil in hand. The ensuing scenes of home and community life in Prague, rendered predominantly in black and white, are punctuated with Communist red and tiny fragments of color as the young artist experiments in the face of rigid conformity. The third-person narration achieves an understatement that helps to mitigate the more disturbing descriptions found in his double-spread journal entries. Bordered by S's's youthful art, photographs, and propaganda posters, these selections depict his reality behind the Iron Curtain from 1954 to 1977. The recurring themes of music and art as important vehicles of self-expression, and the relationship between a government's inclination to embrace or suppress that creativity and the state's vitality, will resonate with teens. This celebration of the arts climaxes in a full-color spread ... la Peter Max. Complex, multifaceted, rich in detail, this book shares the artist's specific heritage while connecting to universal longings. His concluding visions of freedom are both poignant and exhilarating.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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