Run For It: Stories Of Slaves Who Fought For Their Freedom

by Marcelo D'Salete

Overview

This graphic novel tells unforgettable stories about Afro-Brazilian slaves who rebelled against oppression.

Run For It — a stunning graphic novel by internationally acclaimed illustrator Marcelo d’Salete — is one of the first literary and artistic efforts to face up to Brazil’s hidden history of slavery. Originally published in Brazil — where it was nominated for three of the country’s most prestigious comics awards — Run For It has received rave reviews worldwide, including, in the U.S., The Huffington Post. These intense tales offer a tragic and gripping portrait of one of history’s darkest corners. It’s hard to look away.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683960492
Publisher:	Fantagraphics Books
Publication date:	10/10/2017
Pages:	180
Sales rank:	692,992
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Brazilian cartoonist Marcelo D’Salete is a graduate of the University of Sao Paulo with a degree in fine arts. He is an acclaimed illustrator, teacher, and historical author who lives in Italy.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/16/2017
First published in 2015 in D’Salete’s native Brazil, this striking graphic novel exposes the brutality of slavery on that country’s sugarcane plantations via five stories of slaves who attempted escape. With a dry-brush effect, the art conveys the dark, foreboding danger of the jungles surrounding the plantations and the energy and moods of the men and women who react to their enslavement in various ways. A young woman, Nana, is hesitant to leave the relative comfort of the plantation kitchen. Her lover Valu, who works in the fields, desperately longs for escape. This tension between safety and freedom underscores the decision each character eventually makes. D’Salete depicts their determination with a few lines and well-placed shading, though the women lack the same visual individuality that male characters have. Brief touches of the supernatural, in the tradition of Latin American magical realism, show how characters transcend unfathomable horrors. This graphic novel is a beautiful, brutal, and profound work of art that ensures that the legacy of brave men and women who refused to relinquish their humanity will not disappear. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"These gruesome tales offer a tragic but illuminating portrait of Brazil’s black origin. It’s hard to look away."

Hyperallergic

"D’Salete’s bold and graphic journey reveals that even if artistic expression can’t change the past, it can certainly convey it in a new, more accurate and generative light."

Huffington Post

"D’Salete uses his compelling images to move readers and to inform them. Overall, the book is an incredibly accomplished work of cartooning."

The A.V. Club

"Words are minimal, and the images live in a stark white world slowly being encroached upon by smudges of shadow. The image-intensive approach forces readers to slow down and take in the complex visual experience, which taps more deeply into emotion and renders the tales all the more accessible."

Booklist

★ 01/01/2018
Four brutal, tragic stories focus on Africans enslaved in Brazil who fought for their freedom while under Portuguese colonization. Lovers Valu and Nanu escape only through suicide. Calu knifes the slave-owner's son after his mother "the mistress" throws Calu's newborn down a well. Ganzo heads a slave rebellion, but the only survivor is the slave who betrayed them. In the sole successful effort, Damaio leads other villagers in burning the homes of the Portuguese slavers preying on them. Angular high-contrast, black-and-white art hypes the horror and heroism, playing the lush island foliage against dank shadows. (LJ 12/17)

Library Journal