HARVEY

A sparse, evocative look at a father’s death. Young Harvey lives in a simple time in which friends race toothpicks down gushing gutters, anxiously running alongside to see whose wins. On one of these idyllic spring days, Harvey comes home to find that his father has suffered a fatal heart attack. In the wake of the death and subsequent memorial service, he feels himself slipping away, into what he calls “invisibility.” The narrative gently fades out, as does Harvey’s presence. Harvey's child’s-eye perspective is flawlessly conveyed in both naïve-looking drawings, artfully composed, and direct, present-tense narration alert to detail and rendered in blocky hand printing. His grief and confusion is painfully clear in the smudged, muted colors and heavy use of white space. Eschewing boxy panels, this lyrical elegy glides along seamlessly, languishing over each space. The original, French edition won Canada's Governor General’s Awards for both text and illustration. Pensive, with hushed, desolate notes, this is best suited for thoughtful readers, both YA and adult, who are ready for a quiet literary examination of loss. (Graphic memoir. 12 & up)