The Savage - Hardcover

Almond, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076363932X ISBN 13: 9780763639327

Publisher: Candlewick, 2008

Synopsis

Mysterious and utterly mesmerizing, this graphic-novel-within-a-novel pairs the extraordinary prose of David Almond with the visual genius of Dave McKean.

Blue Baker is writing a story — not all that stuff about wizards and fairies and happily ever after — a real story, about blood and guts and adventures, because that's what life's really like. At least it is for Blue, since his dad died and Hopper, the town bully, started knocking him and the other kids around. But Blue's story has a life of its own — weird and wild and magic and dark — and when the savage pays a nighttime visit to Hopper, Blue starts to wonder where he ends and his creation begins.

About this title

About the Author:

David Almond, the author of My Dad's a Birdman, illustrated by Polly Dunbar, is known worldwide for his novels Skellig, Kit's Wilderness, Heaven Eyes, and The Fire Eaters. The winner of a Carnegie Medal and a Michael L. Printz Award, he lives in Northumberland, England.

Dave McKean is the illustrator of the children's books Coraline, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, and The Wolves in the Walls (a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year), all by Neil Gaiman. He also created art for Neil Gaiman's series The Sandman and designs for two Harry Potter films. He lives in Kent, England.

From Booklist:

A story-within-the-story that explores the means of handling grief forms the thrust of this compact book. After Blue Baker’s father dies, his school counselor tries to get him to write down and explore his feelings. “I did it for a while, but it just seemed stupid.” Instead, he secretly starts writing and drawing a story about a feral boy living alone in the woods. Blue’s story—which slashes into the narrative, the moody and ragged artwork a mirror for Blue’s inner turmoil—is interspersed with his struggle to cope with the loss of his father, run-ins with a bully, and difficulty reaching out to his mother and younger sister. The savage in his story is a violent, languageless creature who chases down, kills, and eats people who get too close. The line separating Blue and his imaginary savage becomes increasingly blurred, each bleeding into the other’s world, leading to an inevitable, though earned, catharsis. Avoiding sentiment, this illuminating book captures the staggering power of raw emotions on young minds, and demonstrates the ways expression can help transform and temper them. Grades 6-9. --Ian Chipman

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 076363932X
• ISBN 13: 9780763639327
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 79
• Illustrator: McKean Dave