“Hereville” reviewed on Raw Ink Online

Raw Ink Online, an education site, writes:

Deutsch has two very distinct characteristics working through Mirka that will make this book one teachers will want to add to their bookshelves as a stand-alone, an independent read, or as a unit covering the Hero’s Journey. For one, we have an eleven-year-old girl as hero. . .in a graphic novel. Mirka finds her place among the graphic novel heroes and holds it with her passion and determination to reach her goals. Secondly, we have a Orthodox Jew as main character providing responsible reporting and insight from Deutsch to blend Mirka’c culture into the story. The characters use Yiddish phrases (and Deutsch is kind in providing a gutter glossary to define the terms which he stops doing after the first time, an approach to context that will be welcome to teachers building vocabulary through introduction and context/repetition). Further, the reader is able to peek into the Jewish culture by viewing Mirka in her familial context. The reader sees Mirka knitting, caring for family members, discussing issues of marriage and family identity, and preparing for and observing the Sabbath.

Fans of graphic novels will love what Deutsch has done with the illustrations in Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. Deutsch completely violates any sense of what Scott McCloud tells us is the “gutter” in graphic novels. Character heads appear in multiples. A pig takes up an entire page. Character dialogue sometimes reads like stream of conscious presentation with word bubbles dripping down the page. It’s an absolutely beautiful graphic novel in this respect.

Thanks to Paul W. Hankins, who wrote that review! Click through to read the whole review.

---