Holiday Book a Day: Book Three: Refresh, Refresh

As I've shared, this holiday break I've challenged myself to read a book each day as part of a Twitter movement amongst teachers and readers.  This movement can be found under the #bookaday hashtag.  As such, I'll be posting out daily reflections, both to share some info about the book I'm reading and to model how to respond deeply about the novels we are reading.

I knew that Christmas, Christmas Eve, and New Years Eve would be a little tough so I grabbed some graphic novels to read as they tend to be quick reads.  Mrs. Suda has a growing selection of graphic novels in the library.  You really should check them out.


Refresh, Refresh - David Novgorodoff, Benjamin Percy, James Ponsoldt


One thing I found interesting about Refresh, Refresh is the utter hopelessness depicted in the community and lives of the three protagonists.  The graphic novel revolves around three high school seniors all of whom have fathers enlisted in the military and actively serving in Afghanistan.  All three boys wile away their days causing trouble, video taping backyard fistfights, and drinking in dive bars that care little about adhering to local laws governing drinking age.


It's a pretty sad book.  Every character seems broken down.  The boys are all despondent, desperately waiting for some word that their dads are okay.  There mothers have either left or are working extra hours in the local plant.  Peripheral characters get visited by the Marine chaplain as they are advised that a male in their family has been killed in the war.  It's just a hopeless little community where everyone is biding their time dealing with a war which they all have a huge stake in but not much belief in.  


The art in the graphic novel backs this up.  There are few words and the characters are drawn grim and listless.  The artist seems to have drawn them to seem like All American boys but they are grittier, signaling that something isn't quite right.


If you've ever seen the movie Brothers, this book would make a good companion piece.  Many books depict wars, but it was interesting to read a book that deals with life on the homefront under the specter of war.  Good stuff.  I highly recommend.