Heart Transplant [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

HEART TRANSPLANT is a uniquely conceived book --- impactful in its prose, visually stunning by virtue of the accompanying illustrations. It's not a straight novel or graphic novel or self-help book, yet elements of all three are combined into the final product. The result has been likened to the words-and-music of a song. The lyrics may be memorable in and of themselves; the tune may be memorable in and of itself --- together they unify to create something even MORE lasting. In this case it is a collaboration of words and illustrations brought together to create an enduring work that addresses one of the biggest problems in our world today: Bullying.

The storyline of HEART TRANSPLANT, as penned by Andrew Vachss, is the tale of Sean, one of the "invisible" children who are noticed only when someone seeks to abuse them in some way. As Sean puts it (in the first-person narrative): "Kids like me ... The only time anyone ever saw us was when they needed someone to make themselves look big. By making us look small."

As the story unfolds, Sean is rescued from this invisible, small-seeming existence when his "parents" (his mother is a fat, lazy, neglectful drunk and his "Daddy"-of-the-moment is a physically abusive lout mooching off her welfare checks and dabbling in petty crime) are murdered, and the boy is taken in by his grandfather. The crusty old Irishman --- Paddy, or "Pops" as Sean comes to call him --- quickly spots the lad's scars and insecurities. But he also recognizes Sean's intelligence and strong heart, something no one else ever took the time to notice. Paddy then opens up his own great heart and begins to impart to the boy his simple wisdom in ways that will eventually draw Sean out of his shadows and help him to realize the strengths about himself that Paddy already knows. Paramount in this teaching is a lesson to Sean about the need to be willing to pay the cost of confronting the kind of bullies who've belittled him all his life and make them understand that they, too, will pay a price EVERY TIME from now on should they attempt to continue.

In the end, looking back as a young man after Paddy has passed on, Sean comes to the full realization of how valuable the old man's lessons, and moreover his love, truly were. When the doctor tries to explain to Sean that Paddy had been suffering from a variety of ailments near the end until finally his heart failed, Sean replies: "you write whatever you want on that paper of yours ... But it wasn't his heart that gave out. It would never be his heart."

The story tht lawyer/best-selling crime novelist Vachss weaves here is basic and straightforward, yet nonetheless immensely powerful. Some may see this as a departure for Vachss, but it really is not. HEART TRANSPLANT is a perfect companion piece to his earlier book, ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT, and the theme of combating abuses against the young and the weak has become the focal point of Vachss's life work.

The illustrations by Frank Caruso --- renowned cartoonist and VP of Creative Services for King Features --- beautifully amplify the moods and message of the prose. And an anchoring essay at the close of the book --- by Zak Mucha, clinical social worker and supervisor of Chicago's Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program --- adds an insightful overview.

HEART TRANSPLANT is an important work that should be available in every local library and middle school library across the land and should be read and discussed by families everywhere.

It's been a week since I've read Heart Transplant and I still am shaking my head. It's a timely and important addition to anti-bullying discussions...It's a groundbreaking graphic novel that packs a wallop.

Author Andrew Vachss, illustrator Frank Caruso, and commentary by Zak Mucha gang up with provocative text and suitably dark illustrations that convey the psychological complexity of the bully-victim-advocate triangle. There's nothing easy about being bullying, and Vachss' experience in maximum security prison for aggressive-violent youth offenders is evident in the book's tough dialog and storyline. The book's over-sized dimensions were needed to carry it off...and Vachss website lets you know that's only the tip of the iceberg. Caruso's illustrations are an intelligent mix of visualization and graphic technique, with hints of color punctuating bold black and white frames, insets and full page spreads. Eight pages of insightful commentary and resources by Zak Mucha, LCSW (licensed, clinical social worker) round out this hefty tome.

The book is something special, but where does it belong? Is it for adults or teens? High School? Middle School? What about the graphic violence and hard-nosed advice? Read it for yourself. Share it with others. Discuss. Decide for yourself. Nobody can do it for you (or should). That's what it's all about. Read more!

If you're reading these reviews, you're probably familiar with Andrew Vachss' work. His *sadly* prescient Burke novels feature characters who lost all their light and some of their blood in childhood. Their paths trace back to common ground. This time, Vachss and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Zak Mucha channel their message through the impressionist art of Frank Caruso.

Shawn is a fat, intelligent kid with a checked-out, drunken mother and a series of abusive men in the house. His torment in school helps maintain consistency across environments. We share his first-person view through Caruso's editorial cartoon-style artwork. The union of art and narrative is ingenious; images of people and places (and violence) all reflect how Shawn EXPERIENCES them. Caruso's art reminds me of a stripped-down Sam Kieth (The Maxx). Shawn rarely has a mouth until page 60, when he snaps in a moment of glory. I mean that - it is glorious.

Before this point, Shawn comes home to find that Mom and Whoever won't be his guardians anymore. An old man shows up and rescues Shawn, later rechristening the boy "Sean" out of Irish pride. From here, the book has more color and white space. Sean knows how blessed he is with "Pop", and literally fights to live up to it. (Pop isn't a convenient angel; his son was the last man with Shawn's mom.)

The ending hooks under your diaphragm and >WHAM< lifts you up about three inches. Sean doesn't see it coming, nor do we. In a moment, he comes to love characters he'd hated for years. It's the last brick in a castle full of light.

If you're a Shawn, I pray to God there's a Pop in your environment. If you're a Sean, you can BE the Pop some invisible beaten-down child needs. "Heart Transplant" offers some guideposts to that end.