Sarah Palin: Political Rebel (American Graphic)

Description

In 2008 Sarah Palin took the presidential campaign by storm. As the Republican vice presidential candidate, she went from being a little known Alaskan governor to a national political powerhouse. With raw grit and determination, this self proclaimed hockey mom launched herself into the national spotlight. Join Palin as she fires up supporters and takes on the opposition during the 2008 campaign and beyond.

Nel Yomtov is a writer of children's nonfiction books and graphic novels. He specializes in writing about history, country studies, science, and biography. His graphic novel adaptation, Jason and the Golden Fleece, published by Stone Arch Books/Capstone was a winner of the 2009 Moonbeam Children's Book Award and the 2011 Lighthouse Literature Award. Nel is an avid American military history buff and has written two additional graphic novels for Capstone, True Stories of World War I and True Stories of the Civil War. He lives in the New York City area. I live in the Eternal City, in a small colorful flat on the 5th floor, not far from a beautiful park, where you can admire an amazing landscape of Roman ruins against the sunset background. Although my tiny balcony does not overlook the park, I like to have the perception that near my house and maybe under too, there is a piece of ancient Roma. I work at home in a part of the flat that is the dining and living room too...and that sometimes is a guest room too, sharing my workchair with Meo, our glutton cat. I draw all the day trying at the same time, to remember everything I need to buy at the market and waiting for my cute boyfriend to return home after work, for cooking the dinner..(because he is the chef, I am not...) I love to speak by myself when I take a shower and to change the furniture disposition in my house, or try to keep my cat on a diet, but my main interest remains to draw. I started this job almost without knowing that it would have been the job of my life because it has always been a natural pastime since I was a child, when drawing for me was such as writing my own diary...my own secrets. The best memory of my childhood concerns the big quantity of paper reams that my father brought to me. He was a bookbinder, so finding a sheet to draw on has never been a problem in my house. At school I was not really ...ehem...eager to learn, but I often met teachers that encouraged my talent, turning a blind eye on my scholastic results. My discouraged parents capitulated and accepted to enroll me to an Artistic High School. By that point, my life began to be easy. I graduated in Illustration at The European Institute of Design in Rome. I started early to work for a wide range of clients in many different specialities, from editorial and publishing to advertising and I have been a background designer and a teacher too. I always found every field of application interesting to explore, passing through advertising to historical recostruction, from landscapes to details, using watercolor or digital painting, drawing with charcoals or wacom tablet! I am quite happy to live doing what I always loved and I have everything I need. My only dream for the future is to still continue to work as illustrator with my own well organized workstation in a bigger home possibly on the beach, looking at the sea from huge windows, with the same man with me and the same cat sitting on it's favorite sofa...

Focusing on American history, the American Graphic series uses a comic format to introduce figures that have caught people's attention from the present and the past. Here the focus is on the last election's new faces. Obama begins at the 2004 Democratic convention, where the future president's speech had delegates on their feet, recognizing they were in the presence of a rising star. His rapid ascent, the presidential campaign, and the election are all covered, and there are also some nice personal bits with Michelle and his daughters. There are a few missteps, including a narrow strip that shows his parents holding hands with a red heart over them, and having Obama say, before his keynote address, that his stomach feels "grumbly," which is not a direct quote. (Melia's amusing comment, "Shouldn't you try to be vice-president first?" is an example of a good way to use a quote.) Overall, this does capture the hope and excitement surrounding the election of the first African American president. Sarah Palin's surprise ascension to vice-presidential nominee is covered completely: both the excitement she brought to the ticket as well her weaknesses are discussed. Though Sarah Palin has an uncertain future role in politics, this book leaves open the possibility of bigger things to come. Although the artwork varies in accomplishment even from panel to panel, it does capture the vigor of a political season. One excellent addition is putting actual quotes in yellow. The back matter includes a spread summing up each subject and his or her accomplishments and leads readers to facthound.org for more information.-- "Booklist" The 32-page hardcover graphic biography explores the portion of Sarah Palin's life beginning with when she was selected as the 2008 Republican nominee for Vice President. Palin was the first American woman ever chosen for this position. She was also the first female governor of Alaska and the youngest governor.-- "Denton ISD, Texas" This book would be a great addition to a library's biography section. The "graphic novel" format will appeal to readers.-- "Denton ISD, Texas"