Beat To A Pulp - Round 1, is an exciting new anthology from editors David Cranmer and Elaine Nash --- who also edit the Beat To A Pulp webzine which is accessable at http://www.beattoapulp.com/ .
The webzine has been running for about two years now and on it you can find a new story every week, plus an archive of all previous stories. These tales are tight, tough, terrific little gems running the gamut of "pulp" genres: Adventure, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, pirate stories, Westerns, straight crime, and hardboiled detective mysteries. The authors range from established old pros to newer, lesser-known talents. (Hell, if you check the archives you might even run across something by some character named Dundee.)
The newly released anthology is an extension of the webzine. It is a mammoth book, well constructed, with an eye-grabbing cover, a roster of 27 stories, a forward by Bill Crider, and an afterward ("A History of Pulp") by Cullen Gallagher. A few of the stories are reprints from the webzine, most are originals for this collection.
A must-have for readers craving more pulp in their diets.
For more details you can also check out my review on Amazon.
Friday, October 29, 2010
'TIS BETTER TO HAVE LOVED ...
One of mankind's age-old quandries is the question: Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?
From my personal perspective and experience I answer in a loud, strong voice: Yes, it is better to have loved!
Today marks what would have been the 44th wedding anniversary for me and my beloved Pam. Unfortunately, the love of my life passed away just under two years ago. So the pain and emptiness I feel (and will always feel) to some degree each day since her passing ... would I wish to erase that by never having loved her and thereby never having had her in my life at all? No. Hell no. I endure the empty time now by recalling how blessed I was for the time we did have together. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
As long as I carry Pam in my heart she is still alive; and as long as a piece of my heart is with her we are still connected ... until we are rejoined again in eternity.
I say to anyone reading this: Hold a good thought for those who have lost great loves in their life. And then look around and take time to appreciate those you love while you still have them.
Persevere --- WD
From my personal perspective and experience I answer in a loud, strong voice: Yes, it is better to have loved!
Today marks what would have been the 44th wedding anniversary for me and my beloved Pam. Unfortunately, the love of my life passed away just under two years ago. So the pain and emptiness I feel (and will always feel) to some degree each day since her passing ... would I wish to erase that by never having loved her and thereby never having had her in my life at all? No. Hell no. I endure the empty time now by recalling how blessed I was for the time we did have together. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
As long as I carry Pam in my heart she is still alive; and as long as a piece of my heart is with her we are still connected ... until we are rejoined again in eternity.
I say to anyone reading this: Hold a good thought for those who have lost great loves in their life. And then look around and take time to appreciate those you love while you still have them.
Persevere --- WD
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
New JOE HANNIBAL Story
Regular readers of this blog will hopefully be interested to know that a brand new Joe Hannibal short story has just appeared in the Back Alley web magazine. The title is "Bad Day In The Badlands" and relates the events of a very nasty encounter that Joe has with a psycho killer at a little-known (but factual) locale found in the far northwest corner of Nebraska. The place is officially named Toadstool Geological Park, but is commonly referred to as Nebraska's badlands.
The Back Alley site can be accessed at http://www.backalleywebzine.com/ . It is an excellent place to find a wide range of great crime/noir short stories. It bills itself as featuring "Hardboiled and Noir Fiction for a New Century" and does a nice job of delivering exactly that. Back Alley is edited and operated by Richard Helms, himself a fine crime/detective writer, multiple Shamus Award nominee, and winner of two Derringer Awards for short fiction.
I urge you to check out the site in general and, naturally, hope you give "Bad Day In The Badlands" a read while you're there.
Persevere --- WD
The Back Alley site can be accessed at http://www.backalleywebzine.com/ . It is an excellent place to find a wide range of great crime/noir short stories. It bills itself as featuring "Hardboiled and Noir Fiction for a New Century" and does a nice job of delivering exactly that. Back Alley is edited and operated by Richard Helms, himself a fine crime/detective writer, multiple Shamus Award nominee, and winner of two Derringer Awards for short fiction.
I urge you to check out the site in general and, naturally, hope you give "Bad Day In The Badlands" a read while you're there.
Persevere --- WD
MY NEBRASKA
From time to time I will include in this space observations and/or details about my adopted state that I hope others will find interesting. Although much-maligned (if mentioned at all), the cornhusker state has a great deal more to offer than most people realize. The normal reaction can be summed up by the quote from Jack Nicholson after he'd finished filming some on-location scenes here for his film, About Schmidt: "Nebraska? Oh, yeah ... five hundred shades of brown."
Worth a chuckle, I suppose. But far from accurate. At least in my opinion.
For your consideration:
Persevere --- WD
Worth a chuckle, I suppose. But far from accurate. At least in my opinion.
For your consideration:
- Time Travel In Nebraska --- The following is obviously true of other places where a time zone boundary is also in play, but this is nevertheless my perspective on it. Where I live in Ogallala, you see, we are about 20 miles west of the Mountain Time Zone boundary. The nearest "big town" where we do much of our shopping, etc., is back east in the Central Time Zone, meaning the time there is always an hour ahead of us. (This makes things particularly interesting when you are planning to see a movie or make a restaurant reservation or beat a store's closing time - always having to remember that if you want to, say, catch a 7 o'clock movie that means 6 your time so you'll have to leave by 5 in order to make the 45- to 50-minute drive.) That's the pain in the butt part. The fun part comes when you travel in reverse. If you leave at 10 PM there, for example, you arrive home by 9:45 PM. If you time it right and leave there at, say, 12:05 AM on Wednesday you can actually travel back in time a whole day and arrive home by about 11:50 PM on Tuesday ... Okay, maybe that's a silly thing to even think about. But to my sometimes quirky mind I still find it an amusing technicality.
- Ole's Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge - In the latest Joe Hannibal novel that I'm currently working on, I have included a scene where Joe and his ladyfriend Abby go out to dinner one evening at a restaurant called Ole's Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge. Ole's is a very real place, located in the town of Paxton, some 25 or so miles east of Lake Mac and Ogallala. It is a truly unique place and has quite a colorful history. It's original owner was a Paxton native named Ole Herstedt, who was well known locally as an avid hunter and star athlete. The story goes that while visiting a friend in nearby Julesburg, Colorado, Ole was offered $50 --- if he won --- to pitch as a "ringer" in a scheduled baseball game between a Julesburg team and a rival from Holyoke, Nebraska. Ole agreed, and his team won. Unfortunately, the friend who promised the $50 turned out to not actually have the money. Instead, some bartering took place and Ole accepted a beautiful walnut bar that had originally been crafted for a fine hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Prohibition was in effect at the time but rumors were running rampant that it soon would soon be repealed. Given this, Ole saw the timing of winning the bar as something of an inspiration. It happened that his parents owned a large vacant building in Paxton so when Prohibition was indeed repealed only a few months later, he was ready to go into business with a distinct advantage over his competition. The bar was an almost instant success, its customers primarily rough, hard-working, outdoorsy men. Ole's really thrived during hunting season. Ducks, geese, pheasants, and quails were plentiful to the area. After a day out on the hunt, men would gather at Ole's for card-playing, beer-drinking, and storytelling. There were other diversions, too, such as the group of women who also showed up during hunting season. By day they would clean game birds for the hunters in the basement of a house they had rented in town; by night, sheets would be hung up on clothelines to section off the rooms in the house and other "services" would be made available to the men. Ole's continues thriving to this day and has become one of Nebraska's best known landmarks (as witnessed by billboards along the interstate for hundreds of miles in either direction). Mr. Herstedt has long since passed on to his greater reward. (The "game-cleaning" gals have also passed on, by the way). Before he departed, Ole parlayed the success of his bar (by virtue of the hard work he put into it) and his love of hunting into hunting trips to every corner of the world. Much of the big game he bagged on these expeditions (including a polar bear, an elephant, a giraffe, lions, leopards, water buffalo, elk, moose, deer, etc.) he brought back to be mounted in his increasingly popular establishment. They are there still today, along with framed photos of a wide range of sports and entertainment celebrities, to be viewed either before or after you've enjoyed a fine meal at reasonable prices in what remains, at its heart, a simple working class bar with no pretentions yet a rich, colorful history.
Persevere --- WD
RECOMMENDED READING: PAINTED LADIES by ROBERT B. PARKER
Say what you will about Parker and Spenser, this series revitalized the whole PI genre in the 70s and influenced scores of other mystery/detective writers who came after and continue to this day. And the Spensers never lost their popularity or, quite literally, their punch. I never joined the ranks of Parker-bashers, although I'll admit to feeling for some time that the strongest entries in the series (MORTAL STAKES and PROMISED LAND get my vote) came early on. Nevertheless, all of the Spensers are exciting, laugh-out-loud funny in spots (usually exchanges of dialogue), and just plain entertaining.
The loss of Mr. Parker earlier this year left a great hole in the mystery genre community and he will be greatly missed.
If PAINTED LADIES is indeed the second-to-the-last Spenser we will ever see (SIXKILL, the final Spenser novel, is due out in May of 2011 and in between there will be a "holiday special" Spenser from Amazon that may or may not be a full-length novel) it is surely not a disappointment. It is somewhat more somber in tone than generally found in most Spensers and includes a bit more introspection directly from Spenser himself. This stems from the responsibility the PI feels for failing to prevent the death of a client who hires him as backup for a money exchange --- ransom being paid for the return of a stolen painting. After the client is killed (via explosion) Spenser's sense of obligation causes him to take the lead on the hunt for the killer, even though everyone around him keeps insisting he needn't blame himself, there was nothing he could have done differently at the exchange. This lone-wolf determination largely excludes many of the recurring characters we've come to know from previous books, primarily Hawk, who is out of the country on some kind of secretive job (possibly for the CIA, it is hinted). Hence the greater personal introspection and decreased exchanges of witty dialogue (the best of which usually take place with Hawk). Offsetting this, however, is a more complex mystery than we often get from Parker. There is plenty of action, too, including a particularly good one-on-one fight scene (with you-know-who coming out on top).
All in all, quite a respectful entry in the series.
Persevere --- WD
The loss of Mr. Parker earlier this year left a great hole in the mystery genre community and he will be greatly missed.
If PAINTED LADIES is indeed the second-to-the-last Spenser we will ever see (SIXKILL, the final Spenser novel, is due out in May of 2011 and in between there will be a "holiday special" Spenser from Amazon that may or may not be a full-length novel) it is surely not a disappointment. It is somewhat more somber in tone than generally found in most Spensers and includes a bit more introspection directly from Spenser himself. This stems from the responsibility the PI feels for failing to prevent the death of a client who hires him as backup for a money exchange --- ransom being paid for the return of a stolen painting. After the client is killed (via explosion) Spenser's sense of obligation causes him to take the lead on the hunt for the killer, even though everyone around him keeps insisting he needn't blame himself, there was nothing he could have done differently at the exchange. This lone-wolf determination largely excludes many of the recurring characters we've come to know from previous books, primarily Hawk, who is out of the country on some kind of secretive job (possibly for the CIA, it is hinted). Hence the greater personal introspection and decreased exchanges of witty dialogue (the best of which usually take place with Hawk). Offsetting this, however, is a more complex mystery than we often get from Parker. There is plenty of action, too, including a particularly good one-on-one fight scene (with you-know-who coming out on top).
All in all, quite a respectful entry in the series.
Persevere --- WD
Thursday, October 21, 2010
SINATRA/ROME/CEMENT
Last night I stayed up late and watched, back to back, the two late-60s flicks in which Frank Sinatra played Miami PI Tony Rome --- Tony Rome (1967); Lady In Cement (1968).
In a word, they were fun.
I think they were exactly what they set out to be --- breezy, sexy, hip, with a tip of the fedora to the decidedly more noirish Bogart-type crime/detective films of the forties. Top notch production values all the way around, with plenty of action and snappy dialogue, lovely ladies galore, and nice use of locale --- from the breathtakingly beautiful to the sad and seedy. The most glaring weakness was the lack of realism regarding police procedure in response to all the mayhem taking place; still, they didn't quite take it to the point of being ridiculous (well, except maybe for a scene or two). And, come to think of it, those Forties films weren't exactly hung up on realism in that regard, either.
Both films were based on novels by Marvin H. Albert, who also co-wrote the screenplay for Lady In Cement. Both were directed by Gordon Douglas, who directed several films starring Sinatra in that same time period. Filming was done on location in and around Miami and took place in the off-hours when Sinatra wasn't performing evenings at the Fontainbleau Miami Beach (where several scenes from each movie also took place). A current of "Sinatra cool" runs strongly through each film, complete with several in-joke references and walk-ons by a number of The Chairman's cronies who apparently were passing through at the time and needed a little work.
Tony Rome was the better of the two movies, by a considerable margin. The plot was more complex yet got wrapped up tighter in the end. The dialogue was snappier and there was a stronger sense of danger and and an undercurrent of real toughness, even a little grittiness (well, as much as you could squeeze out of sunny Miami in that time period). The relationship between Rome and his cop buddy Santini was edgier, and in one scene between them we even got a glimpse of what transpired in the past when Tony and his father had both been cops and the elder Rome was driven to suicide by a scandal. In another scene, Rome visits a trashy trailer park to question a stripper who may or may not have some answers he is after. The stripper, who has no qualms about undressing and changing clothes in front of Rome, is living with another woman --- a surly, decidedly unpleasant sort who makes it clear she is unhappy with Tony's presence and equally unhappy with how the stripper makes a living taking her clothes off in front of other men --- and in the course of Rome's questioning it becomes evident the two are in a lesbian relationship. By the end of the scene the two women have exchanged heated words and slaps and then fall into each other's arms for consolation. Rome departs, turning the lights out on them ... It is a somewhat disturbing scene, perhaps gratuitious, yet nevertheless has real dramatic impact and leaves a lasting impression. By contrast, there are at least two scenes in Lady In Cement that amount to blatant gay-bashing and seem to have been included for no other reason than to provide Sinatra a chance to point and giggle and make mocking remarks. I mention this not as a point of political correctness (which I am sick of to the point of wanting to hurl) but to show the difference between the two films --- the difference in the seriousness of how each seems to have been approached.
Tony Rome was tough, taut, and a little edgy --- Lady In Cement was a much lighter "vehicle", more of an action romp. Both were entertaining, only one was more satisfying than the other --- like the difference between a hot dog and cotton candy.
Worth noting is the snappy dialogue in some of the scenes.
Example: When Jill St. John first appears in Tony Rome, Rome has just returned an errant daughter home to the wealthy Kostermans, where St. John is a house guest. As the hungover daughter is led past St. John she gives her a poisonous look and spits: "You slut!" St. John smiles benignly, saunters over to Rome and says, "Now that I've been properly introduced ... "
Example: Later in that same film, when the matriarch of the Kosterman family tries to hire Rome, he gives her a look and says, "Lady, first your stepdaughter tries to hire me, then your husband, now you ... If you had a bigger family, I could retire."
Example: In Lady In Cement, when the character played by huge Dan Blocker gets wounded in the leg, Rome tries to help him get to his feet (visualize a mouse trying to pull up a bulldog). His face reddening very convincingly, Sinatra quips: "Christ ... didn't you ever hear of diet foods?" One has to wonder if this wasn't an impromptu line thrown in by Frank.
Example: (Here's one of those non-PC scenes I mentioned earlier - but I still found it funny as hell.) When a swishy nightclub owner warns Rome to butt out with his investigation he tries to back up the warning by threatening Rome with Seymour --- a large, muscular bartender who is also the owner's boyfriend --- and adding that Seymour used to play pro football with the Green Bay Packers. To which Rome replies: "Yeah, I remember. He led the league in penalties for illegal use of the hands ... and that was just in the huddle."
Final personal note: I never saw Tony Rome when it played in the theaters. Don't know why exactly, I just didn't. However, I distinctly remember making it a point to see Lady In Cement. For two very good reasons: Raquel Welch. (Think about it.) Looking back on the two films now, after the passage of years and the perspective of a bit more maturity (although often not a lot maturity, some would be quick to point out) I find that Jill St. John actually comes off sexier than Raquel. Part of this is the result of the characters they were scripted to play and Ms. Welch, I hasten to add, nevertheless is quite pleasing to the eye. Furthermore (and again from the perspective of whatever maturity I've managed to achieve) I found that Lainie Kazan --- husky-voiced, earthy, showing about a mile of real-woman cleavage playing in a bit role in Cement --- gives them both quite a run for their money.
Jeez, revelations like this make me almost afraid to go back and check out those old Beach Party movies with Annette ... but that's a concern for another time.
Bottom line: You could find way worse ways to kill a couple of hours than with Tony Rome or Lady In Cement. You may be able to find better, grittier, more realistic crime drama on TV most nights, if that's what you're looking for. But if you just want some basic and fun and action, these still get the job done. And, if you happen to be of my generation, re-experiencing a taste of the swingin' 60s and recalling that "Sinatra cool" is simply frosting on the cake.
Persevere --- WD
In a word, they were fun.
I think they were exactly what they set out to be --- breezy, sexy, hip, with a tip of the fedora to the decidedly more noirish Bogart-type crime/detective films of the forties. Top notch production values all the way around, with plenty of action and snappy dialogue, lovely ladies galore, and nice use of locale --- from the breathtakingly beautiful to the sad and seedy. The most glaring weakness was the lack of realism regarding police procedure in response to all the mayhem taking place; still, they didn't quite take it to the point of being ridiculous (well, except maybe for a scene or two). And, come to think of it, those Forties films weren't exactly hung up on realism in that regard, either.
Both films were based on novels by Marvin H. Albert, who also co-wrote the screenplay for Lady In Cement. Both were directed by Gordon Douglas, who directed several films starring Sinatra in that same time period. Filming was done on location in and around Miami and took place in the off-hours when Sinatra wasn't performing evenings at the Fontainbleau Miami Beach (where several scenes from each movie also took place). A current of "Sinatra cool" runs strongly through each film, complete with several in-joke references and walk-ons by a number of The Chairman's cronies who apparently were passing through at the time and needed a little work.
Tony Rome was the better of the two movies, by a considerable margin. The plot was more complex yet got wrapped up tighter in the end. The dialogue was snappier and there was a stronger sense of danger and and an undercurrent of real toughness, even a little grittiness (well, as much as you could squeeze out of sunny Miami in that time period). The relationship between Rome and his cop buddy Santini was edgier, and in one scene between them we even got a glimpse of what transpired in the past when Tony and his father had both been cops and the elder Rome was driven to suicide by a scandal. In another scene, Rome visits a trashy trailer park to question a stripper who may or may not have some answers he is after. The stripper, who has no qualms about undressing and changing clothes in front of Rome, is living with another woman --- a surly, decidedly unpleasant sort who makes it clear she is unhappy with Tony's presence and equally unhappy with how the stripper makes a living taking her clothes off in front of other men --- and in the course of Rome's questioning it becomes evident the two are in a lesbian relationship. By the end of the scene the two women have exchanged heated words and slaps and then fall into each other's arms for consolation. Rome departs, turning the lights out on them ... It is a somewhat disturbing scene, perhaps gratuitious, yet nevertheless has real dramatic impact and leaves a lasting impression. By contrast, there are at least two scenes in Lady In Cement that amount to blatant gay-bashing and seem to have been included for no other reason than to provide Sinatra a chance to point and giggle and make mocking remarks. I mention this not as a point of political correctness (which I am sick of to the point of wanting to hurl) but to show the difference between the two films --- the difference in the seriousness of how each seems to have been approached.
Tony Rome was tough, taut, and a little edgy --- Lady In Cement was a much lighter "vehicle", more of an action romp. Both were entertaining, only one was more satisfying than the other --- like the difference between a hot dog and cotton candy.
Worth noting is the snappy dialogue in some of the scenes.
Example: When Jill St. John first appears in Tony Rome, Rome has just returned an errant daughter home to the wealthy Kostermans, where St. John is a house guest. As the hungover daughter is led past St. John she gives her a poisonous look and spits: "You slut!" St. John smiles benignly, saunters over to Rome and says, "Now that I've been properly introduced ... "
Example: Later in that same film, when the matriarch of the Kosterman family tries to hire Rome, he gives her a look and says, "Lady, first your stepdaughter tries to hire me, then your husband, now you ... If you had a bigger family, I could retire."
Example: In Lady In Cement, when the character played by huge Dan Blocker gets wounded in the leg, Rome tries to help him get to his feet (visualize a mouse trying to pull up a bulldog). His face reddening very convincingly, Sinatra quips: "Christ ... didn't you ever hear of diet foods?" One has to wonder if this wasn't an impromptu line thrown in by Frank.
Example: (Here's one of those non-PC scenes I mentioned earlier - but I still found it funny as hell.) When a swishy nightclub owner warns Rome to butt out with his investigation he tries to back up the warning by threatening Rome with Seymour --- a large, muscular bartender who is also the owner's boyfriend --- and adding that Seymour used to play pro football with the Green Bay Packers. To which Rome replies: "Yeah, I remember. He led the league in penalties for illegal use of the hands ... and that was just in the huddle."
Final personal note: I never saw Tony Rome when it played in the theaters. Don't know why exactly, I just didn't. However, I distinctly remember making it a point to see Lady In Cement. For two very good reasons: Raquel Welch. (Think about it.) Looking back on the two films now, after the passage of years and the perspective of a bit more maturity (although often not a lot maturity, some would be quick to point out) I find that Jill St. John actually comes off sexier than Raquel. Part of this is the result of the characters they were scripted to play and Ms. Welch, I hasten to add, nevertheless is quite pleasing to the eye. Furthermore (and again from the perspective of whatever maturity I've managed to achieve) I found that Lainie Kazan --- husky-voiced, earthy, showing about a mile of real-woman cleavage playing in a bit role in Cement --- gives them both quite a run for their money.
Jeez, revelations like this make me almost afraid to go back and check out those old Beach Party movies with Annette ... but that's a concern for another time.
Bottom line: You could find way worse ways to kill a couple of hours than with Tony Rome or Lady In Cement. You may be able to find better, grittier, more realistic crime drama on TV most nights, if that's what you're looking for. But if you just want some basic and fun and action, these still get the job done. And, if you happen to be of my generation, re-experiencing a taste of the swingin' 60s and recalling that "Sinatra cool" is simply frosting on the cake.
Persevere --- WD
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
RECOMMEHDED READING: HEART TRANSPLANT
About a week ago I posted a blog entry directing readers to an article on Andrew Vachss's web site, The Zero. The article was on the subject of bullying and as part of the post I also incuded some of my own commentary on bullying. Additionally I mentioned that I would soon be reviewing a complete book devoted to the sugject.
HEART TRANSPLANT is that book. It is written by Andrew Vachss, richly illustrated by Frank Caruso, and features an anchoring essay at the end of the book by Zak Mucha (who also wrote the previously touted article).
The fictional prose that tells the story at the heart of the book is by Vachss --- widely noted as a best-selling author of crime novels (most notabley the Burke series) and a lawyer who exclusively represents children and youth.
This time he relates the tale of Sean, a bullied, neglected child who has resigned himself to be one of the "invisible" kids --- the kind of kid, in his own words, who is only seen by others when they want to make him feel little in order to make themselves feel big. As the sory unfolds, Sean is taken in by a crusty old Irishman named Paddy, whom the boy relates to as a grandfather and begins to call "Pops". Through Paddy, Sean begins to realize his own strengths and sense of worth until he is ready to emerge from those shadows of invisibility, recognizing along the way that in order to do this he must be willng pay the price of confronting the kind of bullies who have belittled him all his life and make them recognize that continuing to try and do so is going to come at a cost to them --- every time.
While not truly a graphic novel, the illustrations by Caruso that enhance every page add power and amplification to the words (which certainly are not without impact all on their own).
This an important, thought-provoking, inspiring collaboration.
HEART TRANSPLANT deserves to be in every public and middle school library across the and should be read and discussed by families everywhere.
For further details on this book you can also check out my review (and others)on Amazon.
HEART TRANSPLANT is that book. It is written by Andrew Vachss, richly illustrated by Frank Caruso, and features an anchoring essay at the end of the book by Zak Mucha (who also wrote the previously touted article).
The fictional prose that tells the story at the heart of the book is by Vachss --- widely noted as a best-selling author of crime novels (most notabley the Burke series) and a lawyer who exclusively represents children and youth.
This time he relates the tale of Sean, a bullied, neglected child who has resigned himself to be one of the "invisible" kids --- the kind of kid, in his own words, who is only seen by others when they want to make him feel little in order to make themselves feel big. As the sory unfolds, Sean is taken in by a crusty old Irishman named Paddy, whom the boy relates to as a grandfather and begins to call "Pops". Through Paddy, Sean begins to realize his own strengths and sense of worth until he is ready to emerge from those shadows of invisibility, recognizing along the way that in order to do this he must be willng pay the price of confronting the kind of bullies who have belittled him all his life and make them recognize that continuing to try and do so is going to come at a cost to them --- every time.
While not truly a graphic novel, the illustrations by Caruso that enhance every page add power and amplification to the words (which certainly are not without impact all on their own).
This an important, thought-provoking, inspiring collaboration.
HEART TRANSPLANT deserves to be in every public and middle school library across the and should be read and discussed by families everywhere.
For further details on this book you can also check out my review (and others)on Amazon.
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