Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2010 - (Page 36)

off the shelf The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon Review by Dalia Wolfson These days, comic books have gone out of vogue. Movies have replaced the panel-by-panel animation of the pulps, and Superman is more frequently seen on the screen than on paper. But Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel brings the comic book world to life, opening a city and a culture through words. Joe Kavalier and Sam Clayman are the focus of this novel; the former is a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia with a scrawny arm and a knack for illustration, and the latter a Brooklynite with street smarts and a typist’s hands. The two cousins enter the comics business in all its nitty-gritty glory in the 1940s, when they submit their character, The Escapist (a pseudo-Houdini with a goal of liberating the oppressed), to Amazing Midget Radio Comics. Their collaboration soon becomes wildly successful, and Sam and Joe encounter newfound wealth and opportunities. Joe finds himself vainly attempting to save his family overseas while falling in love with an American artist named Rosa, while Sam struggles with his sexuality and desire to write serious fiction, not just speech bubbles. The book follows their aptly titled amazing adventures, along with those of the Escapist. Chabon recreates the 1940s in incredible imagery, using text to build New York, Empire City (the setting of the comics), and Prague. In New York City, Joe fights the Nazis through The Escapist, who delivers strong punches and knocks out Hitler’s teeth in every issue. In his illustrations, Joe creates a Golem to protect the Jews overseas. But in Prague, his mother’s last censored letter is sent and his brother Thomas, along with thousands of other orphans in a refugee ship, drowns en route to New York. The struggles of the immigrant, searching for a new homeland and family and escaping his predicament—through curved wires and twisted pictures—is remarkably depicted in The Amazing Adventures. Most wonderful, however, is Chabon’s ability to resuscitate an artistic medium, granting it significance and relevance. His words and descriptions are as effective as benday dots: the magenta, cyan, yellow, and black spring to life in the reader’s imagination. The guys at the desk with the Bristol board and the typewriter become the heroes of their own stories. I whipped through this 600-page novel in less than a week. The last time I read such a tome with bated breath was when J.K. Rowling was still using a quill. Chabon captures a time when little boys still flooded the newsstands with requests for freshly published editions of their favorite hero. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a book that goes to the core of the American heart, the colorful issues of national identity, immigration, and families and the relationships that define them. Reading the book, I felt transported to an era when New York offices were filled with smoke and sweat, the War was raging, and, sitting at a drawing board, a person could become superhuman. Dalia Wolfson is a junior at Hunter college High School in New York city. She speaks English, Russian, Hebrew, and conversation-worthy Spanish. in her spare time, Dalia enjoys intense hiking, trying out different tea flavors, drawing with charcoal, participating in school clubs, writing in notepads, playing tennis, and being a bookworm in the Big Apple. Also recommended The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett This winner of the 2001 Carnegie Medal will appeal to all ages. In this hilarious rendition of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a sentient cat leads a team of rats into towns to fake a plague. After the townspeople pay their associate (“a stupid-looking kid with a flute”) to lure the rats away, they all split the money. But when they get to the town of Bad Blintz, the schemers confront not only some competition, but their own notions of good and evil. Shannon Kao, 17, MI Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples This story is about a 13-year-old girl named Shabanu, from Pakistan, who is going to be married according to Muslim tradition one year after her older sister. However, after a wealthy landowner’s plans disrupt everything, it is Shabanu who has to save the family. Suzanne Fisher Staples really brings out the Pakistani culture and tradition in this book and also does so in its sequel, Haveli. Rohan Goyal, 14, NY 36 imagine Sept/Oct 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2010

Imagine Magazine - John Hopkins - September/October 2010
Contents
Big Questions
Big Picture
In My Own Words
Biotechnology is
A Survival Guide for the Biotech Revolution
The Indiana Jones of Biotech
Stemming the Monster
Transgenic Animals
Building a Better Hydrogel
Immortal Cells & Bioethics
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Nights at the Museum
One Step Ahead
Middle Ground
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Creative Minds Imagine
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2010