Bibliographic Information

McGuire, R. (2014). Here. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.

ISBN: 0375406506

 

Plot Summary

Here by Richard McGuire is the story of a room and everything that has happened in that room overtime. The story takes place in the same corner of a room from 500 BC to 2033 AD. The story depicts every person, animal, and piece of furniture that has ever inhabited that room. Sometimes the changes portrayed in the room are tiny and miniscule, while other times they are huge and obvious. This time traveling graphic novel collapses the traditional time line of storytelling by sharing different time periods of the same room on top of one another. You may see timelines of 1932, 1993 and 2014 all on the same page, each showing something different or similar happening in the very same spot. In the room you possibly will see a yelping dog, a new piece of art, a celebration going on or even some kind of disaster taking place. Here provides readers with the opportunity to experience the history of mankind in the same room over and over again.

 

Critical Evaluation

This primarily wordless graphic novel used pop art to depict different time periods in the same room. The artwork was simple, clean, and fresh. Each page had so many little details that told numerous different stories. The story was extremely easy to follow, because of how the art changed from page to page. What little text the graphic novel had helped support the images by giving dates to the images. Every few pages represented a different era in the room or small period of time. McGuire used standard comic book panels to tell the story, but also included smaller panels inside the images. This made it feel like you were looking through portals to different timelines in the room. As each era passed by, the characters and the room changed. You saw people wasting time, celebrating life, sleeping, feeling lonely, looking happy, dying, and the list goes on. It made me feel sentimental about each era and reflect on my own life. I started to wonder about the stories in my home and about the people or animals that once lived there. This graphic novel was unique and fun, but also very interactive, because you were able to see tiny changes in the room over smaller periods of time. I felt like I was apart of the room’s story by the end.  

 

Reader’s Annotation

Meet room and everything that has happened in this room since 500 BC to 2033 AD. See what happened in this very room before man existed and everything that happened in this room now and into the future.

 

Author Information

The following information was taken from the author’s website, http://www.richard-mcguire.com.

 

“Richard McGuire (born 1957) is an illustrator, graphic designer, comic book artist, animator, children's book author, musician and toy designer. His illustrations have been published in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Le Monde, and other publications. His short story Here is likely the most lauded comic book story from recent decades. He is a founding member and bassist for the band Liquid Liquid. His bass line from the song "Cavern" is considered one of the most sampled bass lines of all time.”

 

The following information was taken from the author’s website, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(comics). 

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"Here" is a 6-page comic strip by Richard McGuire (born 1957) published in Raw Volume 2 #1 in 1989. In 2010, McGuire announced a graphic novel version Here (expanded to 300 pages, full-color). It was published by Pantheon Books in December 2014."

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Genre

Fiction Graphic Novel, Historical

 

Curriculum Ties

Could be used for lessons on graphic novels, art, or to discuss the historical relevance of each era depicted.

 

Booktalking Ideas

• Why do you think the author choose to show the history of everything that happened in the same room?

• What do you think he was trying to convey by showing different time periods at the same time in the same spot?

• Does the art in the story work for the graphic novel?

• Do you think each era is well depicted? Why?

 

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Grades 9-12

 

Challenge Issues

N/A

  

Challenge Issue Resources (for usage in a challenge situation)

• Active Listening

• Explanation of why it was chosen for the collection (Rational)

• Awards

• Reader Advisory Reviews (Students, Parents, Educators)

• Positive and Negative Reviews

• National Council of Teachers “Right to Read”

• ALA Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials

• ALA Bill of Rights on Intellectual Freedom

• Library Selection Policy & Library District Reconsideration Form 

 

Why I choose it

I choose to read this book because one of my teen students loves this book. It had no words, but I personally loved it. I think the artwork is fresh and the story is unique. It is a fun twist on the traditional wordless graphic novels that usually have a darker story.