Crushing (A Graphic Novel)

by Sophie Burrows

Overview

An Eisner Award Finalist

Life is full of connections–if you know how to make them. Crushing  follows two people–one determined and a bit awkward, the other unsure where to begin–longing to find out where they belong. Their intersecting and overlapping journeys reveal hidden connections and the unpredictable and unexpected ways we may find each other.   
  
Achingly beautiful, quietly defiant, and full of subtle wit and wisdom, Crushing is a story told in silence; a story without words but bursting with life and color.   
  
This stunning debut graphic novel from Sophie Burrows is a timely look at life in an age of distance and a story of love and understanding — a perfect book to read and to share.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643752396
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/11/2022
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Sophie Burrows is an illustrator and author based in London. She earned her MA in children’s book illustration at Cambridge School of Art, where she spent time nurturing a love for comics and writing and developing her own children’s books. Besides drawing, she loves live music, trashy television, cooking, and spending time outdoors. Her first picture book, Ig and Og and the Other Frog, was published in 2020.

Editorial Reviews

An Eisner Award Finalist

“An exquisitely painful portrait of loneliness, perfectly pitched for the current time of pandemic isolation . . . Visual genius . . . The desperate need for human touch, for human connection is beautifully evoked in the deceptively simple drawings . . . Every detail has been carefully thought out, providing the reader with a rich narrative experience. That this is a debut leaves one eager to see what Burrows’ next project will be.”
—New York Journal of Books

“Poignant, timely … Burrows exhibits that deft cleverness throughout … . Burrows’ pencil drawings in mostly grays-to-blues enhanced with glowing reds produces a visually and emotionally nourishing feast. … Burrows’ memorable creation should resonate with singles of any age in search of connection.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“A charming graphic novel debut . . . that recommends optimism and a wry sense of humor while acknowledging the ubiquity of loneliness.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The accomplished pencil drawings with red highlights are eloquent and emotive, drawing readers in, conveying the personalities of the characters, and capturing the poignancy, dignity, drama, and humor of the everyday . . . Evocatively sketches a fine line between someday and happily-ever-after.”
—Kirkus Reviews 

“A tender and real modern love story told via sad-sweet illustrations from the brilliant Sophie Burrows.”
—Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library

“It's warm, it's funny—a subtle read, resting in the minor moments—the kebab shop visits, supermarkets, being curled up on the couch watching TV. More than words, Crushing is a feeling; a comforting, quiet feeling—just a really nice and relatable read for our times.”
—The Skinny
 
“Portrays perfectly the feeling of metropolitan solitude while charged with a lingering sense of wonder.”
—CulturAll
 
“Exquisitely drawn, full of quirky yet relatable little details to any urban dweller, and hopeful rather than hopeless, Crushing is a new kind of love story.”
—Red Magazine
 
“Cute, whimsical and relatable … it’s a charmer.”
—YADudeBooks
 
“Eloquently told … poignant.”
—Youth Services Book Review

 

From the Publisher

2021-10-13
This quiet, wordless book is artist and author Burrows’ graphic-novel debut.

A young woman, pale and rosy-cheeked with a straight black bob, lives alone in London—except for her cat—surrounded by lovers on Hampstead Heath and crowds on the Tube. One night she runs down to the local kebab and pizza shop in her pajamas and encounters a young man, pale and freckled with floppy red hair, also wearing pajamas. Unfortunately, they don’t notice each other surreptitiously noticing each other and head their separate ways, the young man returning to his flat—empty except for his dog and the glare of his laptop screen. The young woman tries a dating app, and a man sends her unsolicited, intimate selfies; the young man gets spattered in bird poop while working a temp job dressed as an avocado. The story conveys life as a series of small indignities, slight misses, and minor connections but ends on a hopeful note. The accomplished pencil drawings with red highlights are eloquent and emotive, drawing readers in, conveying the personalities of the characters, and capturing the poignancy, dignity, drama, and humor of the everyday. The backmatter includes mental health organizations and crisis lines and a note from Burrows referencing inspiration from missed connections columns and pandemic isolation.

Evocatively sketches a fine line between someday and happily-ever-after. (Graphic fiction. 15-adult)

Kirkus Reviews