Essex County, Volume 1: Tales from the Farm

STORYLINE: Short vignettes of a boy's life with his uncle in the year after he copes with his mother's death. He makes a friend of a local man, who once played hockey but is now brain damaged, and it is hinted is hinted is actually his father.

ART: Pencil sketches done in rough, wavering lines. Faces are also very rough, more impression of features than nicely formed faces. ( )

Summary:
A ten-year old boy named Lester goes to live with his uncle on his farm after his mother passes away. Lester loves to dress as super heroes and wears a cape and a mask. He is teased by other kids at school and often spends much of his time alone until he meets Jimmy. Jimmy is an ex hockey player who is known as the "slow" person in town. They hit it off great and often meet at the creek to plan their escape of the alien evasion Lester claims is coming soon. At the end of the novel Lester saves the town from the aliens and is known as the hero.

Personal Reflection:
Tales From the Farm was a horrible graphic novel. I did not like the story at all. The novel was set for nine-year old children, yet had many inappropriate words, such as, "faggot" and also contained numerous amounts of curse words within the story. I found the graphic novel to be inappropriate and disturbing.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
I would never recommend or allow any of my students to read this book. It was inappropriate for any elementary age student as well as middle school. I would not recommend this novel to anyone, but it is more suited for high-school students and adults.

sad story. it never occurred to me that jimmy was his dad. ( )

Summary: This is about a young boy, Lester, who loses his mother to cancer and is forced to live with an uncle he barely knows. Lester never knew his father, but his uncle tells him they were friends when they were young. Lester befriends the attendant at the gas station who shares his love of comics. The two end up spending a lot of time together and end up as friends. The author never comes out and says that the gas station attendant is Lester's father but it is heavily implied.

Personal Reaction: This is a good book and, unfortunely, one that many kids can relate to. I liked that the author never specifically said that the gas station attendant was the father. The ending is mysterious in that it is left up to the reader to infer what it meant when the cape and mask were hanging on the tree limb. The illustration was all black and white, except when the author would tell about the past, then it was gray and a little hazy. There were a lot of sharp lines in the pictures, which automatically gave me a feeling of lonliness.

Classroom Extension: 1) Plan a science lesson about the germination of a seed. Have students plant flower seeds in cups/cans and care for them as they grow. 2) Plan lesson about the four different seasons and what effects they have on animals in different parts of the world.

I had some time to kill in Stockholm City yesterday, and found myself in the excellent comics library Serieteket in the Culture House for the first time in a long while. What a great place that is, with it’s brilliant selection and competent staff – we’re so lucky to have it!

I picked up this, the first volume in the Essex County series, after hearing much raving about it here on LT. It’s easy to see why. This novella of a young boy on the Canadian countryside who’s just lost his mother and escapes into Superhero fantasies is perhaps not that original, but Lehane tells it in an exact, sparse style, making great use of the medium. It’s a little gem, if not sensational, and I’ll surely read the following parts as well. ( )