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Summary
Summary
An award-winning graphic novel from Quebec -- for fans of Jane, the Fox and Me and A Year Without Mom
This moving graphic novel tells the story of the affection between a girl and her grandfather. When the grandfather withdraws in grief after his wife dies, the girl is determined to live life fully herself and enters an extraordinary contest -- the result is a sensitive portrayal of pursuing a dream.
Grandfather, a man of few words, is devastated when his beloved wife succumbs to cancer, and he sinks into depression. His granddaughter ("Mémère," as he calls her) has a different response. She decides to enter the Who Will Go to the Moon Contest, and when she actually wins, she hopes that Grandfather will be proud of her. She embarks on the thrilling journey and at first it is wonderful, but just as she is about to reach the moon, her journey takes an unexpected turn.
Written by Stéphanie Lapointe and beautifully illustrated by Rogé, this imaginative graphic novel explores intergenerational relationships, love, death, dreams and illusions.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
Author Notes
Stéphanie Lapointe is a singer and actress who has produced three solo albums and is involved in various television, theater and film productions. She has co-directed several documentaries abroad for Radio Canada International and Care Canada. She is also the author of the young adult novel, Victoria. Stéphanie lives in Montreal.
Rogé is an illustrator, painter and writer with more than twenty children's books to his credit. He has won the Governor General's Literary Award, and his book on Haiti was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book. He lives in Montreal.Shelley Tanaka is an award-winning author, translator and editor who has written and translated more than thirty books for children and young adults. She teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts, in the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Shelley lives in Kingston, Ontario.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Canadian writer Lapointe's affectionate tale, winner of a Governor General's award, is narrated by a young woman who introduces her grandfather, Adrien. He's "a man of few words," left defeated by the death of his wife, Lucille, "like his heart ran out of gas." He gives his granddaughter a single piece of advice, "Make sure you go and get yourself a degree," which she hears fondly: "I imagined that one day we'd go and get it together." Feeling that Adrien will approve of her adventurous spirit, she enters the Who Will Go to the Moon contest and wins, but her short space journey doesn't go well. No matter; at its end, her grandfather is waiting for her. Although Rogé's (Haiti, My Country) mixed-media images have an offhand look, his portraits are full of heart: Adrien's face is lined with care, the granddaughter's is pensive, and the sense of place is strong. In Tanaka's unobtrusive translation, Lapointe's prose is lyrical, meditative, and observant, and, the love between girl and grandfather feels very real, amid the story's fantastical twists. Ages 10-13. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
"It's so easy not to notice a man of few words."A girl looks back on her relationship with her grandfather. Already a humble, simple man, Grandfather retreats further inward when the love of his life passes away. He loses interest in the day and its promises, sleeping through bus rides, movies, even his granddaughter's ballet recital. Lapointe builds a portrait of a brokenhearted man and his granddaughter in details, adding depth and nuance to their compelling bond, before shifting the story in an unexpected direction. One day news spreads of a "Who Will Go to the Moon Contest," which captures the curiosity of almost everyone, including the narrator. "I didn't want my life to be one long breath. Warm, and slow." She's chosen to take the fateful trip despite the odds, but her success doesn't stir Grandfather out of his solitude. The big day comes, and she's off to the moon. Yet she feels "an emptiness" once she is in space, where her wandering thoughts inevitably lead her back to Grandfather. Featuring muted colors and distinctly drawn, primarily light-skinned characters, Rog's pictures stir big emotions out of the smallest gestures. Though readers of all ages may find the rather disjointed story bewildering, the author's measured, direct text keeps it all thematically intact, with an ending full of small breakthroughs. An undeniable if imperfect gem. (Graphic novel. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In whispery words, the narrator of this somber exploration of grief describes her beloved grandfather, a man who nodded off during her ballet recitals, insisted she get a degree, and became sad and withdrawn after the death of his wife. Then the story takes an abrupt turn. The narrator, perhaps in an effort to impress or comfort her grandfather, wins a contest to go to the moon. Rogé's spare, gray-toned illustrations, filled with fine-lined shapes in an artfully shaky hand and cut-paper collage, have plenty of open space on which figures gently float. Most striking is the narrator's journey to the moon, in which she's barely a speck on a vast, dark field of sky and paint-splatter stars. This is beautiful, bewitching stuff, but at times so oblique it's confounding, and the format not quite a picture book, not quite a graphic novel makes it difficult to imagine its ideal audience. That said, however, the enigmatic symbolism, poetic language, and evocative artwork may utterly entrance the right reader.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
