About the Author:
Nate Powell was born in 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and began self-publishing comics in 1992 at age 14. He graduated from School of Visual Arts in 2000.
Powell's work includes TheYear Of The Beasts (Roaring Brook Press, 2012), The Silence Of Our Friends (First Second, 2012), Any Empire (Top Shelf Productions, 2011), Swallow Me Whole (2009 Eisner Award winner for Best Graphic Novel, 2008 Ignatz Award winner for Outstanding Debut, and LA Times Book Prize nominee; Top Shelf, 2008), Sounds Of Your Name (Microcosm Publishing, 2006), Please Release (Top Shelf, 2006), It Disappears (Soft Skull Press, 2004), Tiny Giants (Soft Skull, 2003), and the self-published Walkie Talkie series.
He is also a fill-in writer/artist for the Vertigo Comics series Sweet Tooth and a contributor to the acclaimed fundraising anthology What You Wish For: A Book for Darfur (Bookwish/Putnam, 2011).
From 1999 to 2009 Powell worked full-time providing support for adults with developmental disabilities alongside his cartooning efforts. He managed DIY punk record label Harlan Records for 16 years, and performed in the bands Universe, Soophie Nun Squad, Wait, Boomfancy, Gioteens, and Divorce Chord. He currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife Rachel Bormann.
From School Library Journal:
Grade 10 Up—Powell has created a complex tale of two adolescent step-siblings struggling through the usual angst and discovery that occur during the teenage years. However, for Ruth and Perry, mental illness makes this time even more difficult. Ruth, who is at the center of the story, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and patterns of schizophrenia. Infatuated with insects, she keeps collections of them in jars in her room and is constantly arranging and rearranging them. She hallucinates that masses of insects surround her and fears stepping on any living thing. For Ruth, the simplest tasks present huge challenges. Perry fights his own demon as he tries to rid himself of a small wizard who persistently appears and makes him draw. The author's treatment of mental illness is realistic and sensitive. Readers are brought into the experiences of the characters and empathize with them. The relationships Ruth and Perry have with each other and with other family members are honest and lovingly portrayed. Every word in this graphic novel is carefully chosen, dialogue is realistic, and background "noise" masterfully done. Powell's detailed pen-and-ink drawings are well executed with lettering and images so brilliantly intertwined that they are one and the same. While the complexity and subject matter of Swallow Me Whole will not appeal to everyone, those teens who pick it up will discover a poignant story.—Lara McAllister, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia
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