It was particularly difficult—and yet so important and poignant—to read K.M. Walton's second novel,
Empty, late last night and into this early morning. Kate is a friend of mine, a deep-thinking, big-hearted former school teacher who has devoted her novelistic life (so far) to making visible the too-often invisible lives of young people who have either been bullied or succumbed to the tease of hurting others. In a
recent, moving TEDx talk, Kate took us back into her teaching days and shared her effective cure for getting kids to stop hurting other kids. It's mandatory watching.
With
Empty, Kate focuses on Adele, 17 years old and massively overweight, a former softball star whose size now makes it difficult to play. Her father has left the family. Her mother, working two jobs and addicted to prescription pills, has moved Adele and her baby sister into inadequate, cramped quarters. Adele's only friend doesn't even truly know Adele, and sometimes, for comfort, Adele will pour a box of cereal into a large mixing bowl and eat every single bite. And things will only get worse.
One wants to believe (to hope) that no child is this alone, or in this much pain, but the news tells us differently. The news reminds us of how frightening alone-ness is, and of what its consequences can be.
Empty is a brave book written by a brave writer—relentless, unblinking, harrowing. We read it to know. We read it disabuse ourselves of the easy notion that those young people floating on the margins will be just fine without us, that they somehow don't need our attention or care.
They are not fine without us.
They need our care.
I received an early copy of
Empty from Kate. Join her for her book launch on January 5, 2013 at the Barnes and Noble in Exton, PA, 7 PM to 9 PM. I, most certainly, will be there.
I grew up reading Cracked and Mad magazines, hunting in various grocery newsstands for old and new issues and then checking my Velcro wallet for the cash and change to afford my habit. Even if I didn’t understand all of the jokes, I returned again and again for the film parodies--and much of this was due to artist John Severin, who passed away at age 90 last week.
Among his many illustrative talents, Severin excelled at capturing the likenesses of celebrities while adding his flair for caricature. Even when he played it straight, Severin’s characters expressed a herky-jerky sense of movement that suggested a smirk on behalf of the artist behind the pencil. He had ink in just about every mainstream comics publisher--from EC to DC, Marvel to Dark Horse, among others--and he continued to perfect and express his art until his passing; his latest work published only last month in Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever, a project written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi. It’s worth repeating that he was 90 years old and still producing professional artwork.
Last weekend, I re-read Lost and Gone Forever--very much a serious horror tale--and marveled at Severin’s ability to blend a Wild West setting with the supernatural. Mignola and Arcudi’s scripts call for Severin to bring to life Native American mythology and Victorian sensibilities, Buffalo-headed heroes and zombie hordes--and Severin excels. The dream sequences reveal themselves as legitimate surprises. Severin masks these scenes as part of the normal narrative until it’s too late for the reader to turn back and realize he or she has been duped. Severin’s work may be a bit sketchier than it was during his Cracked years (a 45-year relationship), but it’s still very much on par with his contemporaries. Much like my first read of Lost and Gone Forever, I could not stop partway through. I read it in one sitting because I had to--Severin, Mignola, and Arcudi? It’s a collaboration that dares the reader to blink, and I do not envy the artist who has to follow with the next Witchfinder installment.
For more on John Severin’s career (he had the awesome middle name of “Powers,” by the way), please see the AV Club, The Beat, and the farewell at The Comics Journal (which also features a hefty interview with the artist). Thank you, Mr. Severin. I wore out my wallet’s Velcro-adhesive with justifiable admiration.
--Alex
For the 100th International Women’s Day this week, The Guardian chose their Top 100 inspirational women living today from a range of backgrounds and subjects. This is possibly the only time you’ll see Lady Gaga and Margaret Thatcher in the same list. [The Guardian]
A football (soccer) player was sent off the pitch this week after tackling a pitch intruder wearing a mankini. There’s video. [BBC News]
Bootlegged toys: yes, you too can own ‘Spaderman’. [Cracked.com]
One man’s experience of being a giver on World Book Night. [The Bookseller]
Two-thirds of lawyers said Facebook was the ‘primary source’ of evidence in divorce proceedings. [Shiny Shiny]
British book blogger extraordinaire Dovegreyreader celebrated the fifth birthday of her blog. [Dovegreyreader Scribbles]
If you can’t get to SXSW, perhaps you might be interested in NSEW. [Londonist]
Leona Lewis is London’s most influential woman? Really? [The First Post]
A guide to T A office hours. [PHD Comics]
‘If membership is restricted to men, the lose will be ours.’ [Letters of Note]
And finally… Daniel Craig in a dress for International Women’s Day:
Click here to view the embedded video.
This one needs some explanation but I'll keep it simple. When I was 4 years old I was hit by a car. I still have a large scar and crack in my forehead. The following two panels are from a story I am putting together about just not only the crack in my forehead but my theory on why I continue to hit my head...
If you'd like to follow my cracked head exploits feel free to stop by my "Head Injury" log on facebook. Here's a photo of the scar on my head (please note that the tiny cut pictured was recently acquired when I hit my head on my desk, the scar is below). Don't laugh, it's not funny.
Read bout the fleeting fame of Dickie Goodman
HERE on the josh pincus is crying blog.
Sidewalks are cracked. My submission for Illustration Friday's "cracked" theme is one of my valgal business cards. Cracked sidewalks remind me of skating, biking and childhood fun. Hopscotch anyone? I hope everyone has a nice Memorial weekend. Topanga is a fun place to share in the festivities because we have Topanga Days Fair a 3-day celebration with bands, games, food, sellers and dancing. It is a long standing tradition to attend the parade on Monday and all the kids, dogs, and adults enjoy themselves and the main boulevard is closed to traffic so all the floats and even our Firetruck 69 can attend. If you click on this link and go to the tab marked Topanga Days you can see the fair in 1979 and in 1999. A 20 year span and it seems the same :)
It wasn't long before Andrew realized
"Penthouse" living wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
(Not quite “cracked”, but I was doing warm-up sketches this morning and put this together quickly. Maybe I’ll do some others later this week.)
I remember being influenced by this little ditty when I was a kid. Were any of you? Not that I really thought I could do harm to my mother, but the idea [...]
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I look forward to reading 'Empty' another novel that I know comes deep from Kate's heart. She is remarkable and I hope all parents will purchase this book and her first 'Cracked' for their teens. Enlightening and necessary tones in these difficult times when our children need to know they are not alone...