The Golden Hour
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- ¥1,500
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- ¥1,500
発行者による作品情報
2021 Kirkus Prize Finalist • A Kirkus Best Book of 2021 • An SLJ Best Book of 2021
★ “Exceptionally graceful and delightful” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “A beautiful story of resilience.” School Library Journal, starred review
★ “Meaningful and impactful ” — School Library Connection, starred review
From the author of The Deep & Dark Blue comes a tender graphic novel, perfect for our time, that gently explores themes of self-discovery, friendship, healing from tragedy, and hope for a better tomorrow.
Struggling with anxiety after witnessing a harrowing instance of gun violence, Manuel Soto copes through photography, using his cell-phone camera to find anchors that keep him grounded. His days are a lonely, latchkey monotony until he's teamed with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project.
Sebastian lives on a grass-fed cattle farm outside of town, and Manuel finds solace in the open fields and in the antics of the newborn calf Sebastian is hand-raising. As Manuel aides his new friends in their preparations for the local county fair, he learns to open up, confronts his deepest fears, and even finds first love.
This title will be simultaneously available in paperback.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After saving his art teacher from an armed attacker at school, Manuel Soto, a Latinx aspiring photographer, copes with PTSD with the help of a therapist and his single mother. Specifically, Manuel takes pictures on his phone's camera to anchor himself during frequent dissociative episodes—dark grayscale scenes in angular, fractured panels convey these moments in contrast to otherwise painterly full-color illustrations. In art class, Manuel befriends two tablemates, both agriculture enthusiasts raising animals for the country fair. Sebastian, a white student, cares for a calf on his family farm, while Caysha, who is Black, sees to fancy chickens at her grandparents' house. Smith (The Deep & Dark Blue) slowly builds a tender romance between Manuel and Sebastian—Manuel assists Sebastian with his calf, and Sebastian helps Manuel through an episode. With a soft start and a gentle build, Smith's graphic novel details the realities of Manuel's trauma response while reveling in subdued, generous scenes that showcase the three friends' everyday joys. Back matter further contextualizes PTSD, anxiety, and the grounding techniques Manuel employs. Ages 8–12.
