The current featured contributor to
Writers Read: Sara Varon, whose work includes the graphic novels
Sweaterweather and
Robot Dreams, and the picture book
Chicken and Cat (a 2006 Parent's Choice silver honor award winner).
One paragraph from her entry:
Even though I make graphic novels, I don't read that many. But my favorite is The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar. The Rabbi's Cat 2 just came out, and that was my most recent read. The second book was just as good as the first one - both the stories and pictures are fantastic. [read on]
From the
Publishers Weekly starred review of
Robot Dreams:
Robots, ducks, melting snowmen, and other mute creatures, all rendered in sweet and simple drawings, go through some very big, very human ordeals in Varon's (Chicken 
and Cat) elegiac and lovely graphic novel about friendship. Dog buys a build-your-own-robot kit and assembles a new best friend for himself. But a day at the beach leaves Robot's joints rusted and immobile, and Dog is obliged to abandon him there. While Dog spends the next year trying to fill the hole in his life left by Robot — and assuage his guilt — Robot lies inert on the beach, dreaming of rescue and escape. Dog's episodic stories are particularly poignant in the way they mirror the human tendency to "try things out" in the hopes of meeting some emotional need; Robot is an avatar for all children who wonder why they aren't receiving the love they think they deserve. In a conclusion both powerful and original, Robot ends up reworked into a radio by a raccoon grateful for the music, and forgives Dog, even if Dog doesn't realize it; for once characters don’t have to wind up back together to find happiness. Tender, funny, and wise.
Read
more about Sara Varon and her work.
Writers Read: Sara Varon.
--Marshal Zeringue
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