The Ohio Jewish Chronicle on Hereville: “a fully developed, complex character”

In the Ohio Jewish Chronicle, writer Pam Spence includes Hereville in a list of this year’s “great books for Chanukah gifting.”

Barry Deutsch’s graphic novel for the pre-teen set is one of the most unusual offerings we have seen recently. The heroine of this work is Mirka, an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who has her sights set on slaying a dragon — with a sword. Got your attention? Mirka’s stepmother, Fruma, insists that Mirka learn the “womanly arts” — like knitting — but Mirka has other ideas. Mirka’s sisters insist that Mirka curb her unruly behavior lest she compromise all of their chances of finding a suitable husband, but Mirka has other plans.

In comic book style, Deutsch has nevertheless created a fully developed, complex character in Mirka who combats fantasy dragons as well as the dragons of real life: school yard bullies, unresolved grief, and boundaries of faith and culture.

Thanks, Pam!

Barry to be interviewed on “Word & Pictures” radio show on Thursday

The press release from Words & Pictures, a Portland radio show devoted to comics:

Tomorrow morning (Thursday December 9th) from 11:30am to noon (PDT), Words & Pictures celebrates its seventh anniversary on the air by returning to its local roots. This month’s guest is up-and-coming Portland author Barry Deutsch, who’s just published his first graphic novel Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, the adventures of a troll-fighting eleven-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl.

Words & Pictures airs on KBOO community radio, 90.7fm, Not near a radio? You can listen to the real-time webstream at http://kboo.fm/listen via iTunes or Abacast. And look for the webcast version on KBOO’s home page shortly after the show airs.

More info and links to recent webcasts can be found at http://www.tooningin.com

Jake Richmond, Hereville’s colorist, will be there as well. Should be fun!

JT News on Hereville: “Engaging and Exciting”

In a column on books for kids, JT News (“The Voice of Jewish Washington”) gives Hereville a very nice mention.

For older readers (9 and up) comes the engaging and exciting graphic novel Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Portland graphic artist Barry Deutsch (Abrams, cloth, $15.95). While it features Orthodox characters in an Orthodox Jewish town, this book does not belong to the sub-genre of books aimed at only Orthodox readers.

Featuring “yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl,” Deutsch appeals to almost any reader with his heroine Mirka. She just wants to do something a little different, but ends up involved with a witch and a talking pig. The author cleverly incorporates explanations of cultural and religious values, along with a little Yiddish, in this clever blend of fantasy and reality.

The writer was Diana Brement. Thanks, Diana!

The Story of Hannukah, In PowerPoint Format

There are four slides in all — click here to see the whole thing in pdf format.

(Via.)

Miami Book Fair report

The Miami Book Fair was terrific! I’ve been to a fair number of comic book conventions over the years, but this was my first book fair. Naturally, I hung out with other cartoonists virtually the whole time. 🙂

Still, it wasn’t really like a comic book con. At comic book cons, there are so many cartoonists that we tend to divide ourselves by brow height — the allegedly “lowbrow” superhero cartoonists hang out mainly with other superhero folks, the highbrow Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly people hang out mainly with each other, and I mainly hang out with other “middlebrow” cartoonists. But because there were relatively few cartoonists at the Miami Book Fair, I hung out with all sorts of cartoonist. and it was loads of fun!

I have the world’s worst memory for names (really, it’s amazing), so I can’t list every cartoonist I hung out with. But I spent lots of time kicking with Amy Ignatow whose very funny graphic novel is The Popularity Papers. Amy and I did a panel with Chris Schweizer (the cartoonist behind Crogan’s Vengeance and Crogan’s March, both of which are super fun adventures) and Raina Telgemeier (whose amazing graphic novel Smile is on everyone’s “year’s best” list).

I also got to talk with Vanessa Davis (Make Me A Woman, another frequent resident of “years best” lists) and her gentleman friend whose name I can’t remember (I suck!), but I hope they’re serious about moving to Portland; Dave Roman (Astronaut Elementary); big-time superhero cartoonist Amanda Conner, who recommended I read her comic book The Pro; I did read it, and thought it was utterly hilarious and very well-drawn (although definitely for grown-ups only). Jimmy Palmiotti (writer of Power Girl, Jonah Hex, and about a zillion other comics); Lars Martinson, whose graphic novel series Tonoharu is almost painfully gorgeous; and other folks whose names I’m blanking on.

Plus, a wonderful breakfast with Abrams editor Charlie Kochman, where we sort of discussed business (he told me about an upcoming Abrams book that I’m just drooling to see) but mainly just geeked out about comics together. Charlie later snapped this pic of me and Amanda discovering we attended the same high school:

Last and not at all least, I was interviewed by my fellow Oberlin alumni Heidi Estrin, who interviewed me for her podcast The Book of Life; it was a really fun interview, and I can’t wait to hear it.

After Miami, I went off to Orlando for the ALAN workshop! I’ll post about that later.

“Tablet” Magazine on Hereville: “Perfect Throughout”!

Marjorie Ingall has included Hereville in her annual listing of the year’s best Jewish books for kids! There’s also a mini-review of Hereville:

Perfect throughout is Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch. It’s a very weird, confidently drawn graphic novel about an 11-year-old Orthodox girl who fervently wants to fight dragons. Mirka Herschberg lives in a tight-knit community in an unknown time and place where boys have payos and married women cover their hair, but where the woods are full of trolls and witches and humongous crazed pigs. I love that the stepmother in this book is good instead of evil, and I love that Deutsch really knows how to tell a story in his chosen medium. Characters burst free of their panels; the interplay of image and text is flawless; the entire book is kinetic and action-filled, but thoughtful too. A must for graphic-novel fans.

Thanks so much, Marjorie! Check out her full list to see what great company Hereville is in!

Barry Interviewed On “The Enchanted Inkpot”

A new interview with me, conducted by Leah Cypess (author of the fantasy novel Mistwood), has been posted on The Enchanted Inkpot. Check it out!

Welcome To My Tweendom Reviews Hereville: “Completely different and refreshing”

Welcome To My Tweendom, a book review blog focusing on books for tweens, has posted a very nice review of Hereville! Here’s my favorite bit:

What follows is a wonderful blend of fantasy, quest and a window into the Orthodox Jewish world. Mirka manages to get what she wants without outright rejecting her culture and faith, but finding ways to work them into her desires. There is nothing that Mirka loves more than her family, and her quest to have a proper sword proves to be an awakening of sorts on this very topic. Deutsch’s portrayal of the relationships between siblings as well as those between children and parents are completely realistic, and readers will be able to identify with the characters regardless of their faith or their cultural background.

Completely different and refreshing, Hereville will quickly rise to the top of the recommendations that kids give to other kids.

Thanks to the reviewer, Stacy Dillon!

Hereville is the perfect Chanukah gift!

It’s also the perfect Chanukkah, Hanukkah, Hanuka, or Channuka gift!

Chanukah begins the night of December 1 (this Wednesday), and continues until December 9. Plenty of time to buy a copy of Hereville from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powells, or your favorite local indy bookstore.

Just sayin’…

If you’d like to know more about Hereville, you can read some reviews here, or read a preview here.

(Please excuse this moment of absolutely shameless sales pitching. Regular blogging will now resume.)

Hereville included on “Crossover Charm” list

Thanks to Monica & Hannah McRae Young of the Winston-Salem Journal for including Hereville on their “Crossover Charm” list — a list of books for kids that adults will enjoy too.

I never even thought of Hereville as a book for kids when I was making it; I was just trying to create a fun fantasy-adventure book that I’d enjoy as a reader.