Stitches

Stitches

Authors

David Small

Illustrator

David Small

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Publication Year

2009

ISBN

9780393068573

Pages

336 pages

Genre

memoir

Format

graphic novel

Item Type

Nonfiction

Annotation

One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot, the fourteen-year-old boy had not been told that he had cancer and was expected to die. Believing that they were trying to do their best, David’s parents did just the reverse. Edward Small, a Detroit physician, who vented his own anger by hitting a punching bag, was convinced that he could cure his young son’s respiratory problems with heavy doses of radiation, possibly causing David’s cancer. Elizabeth, David’s mother, tyrannically stingy and excessively scolding, ran the Small household under a cone of silence where emotions, especially her own, were hidden.

Grade Level

9-12

Diversity Topics

Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Disability and Health; Family violence; Gay/Lesbian; Physical disability; Illness; abusive mother; abusive grandmother; emotional abuse; physical abuse; lesbian; lesbian mother; lesbian adult; mute; missing vocal cord; cyst; cancer

Main Character

male child; male teenager

Race/Ethnicities

White

Family Formation

mother and father

LGBTQ+

lesbian female

Awards

Alex Awards, 2010, Winner
Lupine Award, 2009, Honor Book, Picture Book
National Book Award, 2009, Finalist, Young People's Literature
Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books for Young Adults, 2009 Non Fiction
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens, 2010
School Library Journal Best Books, 2009 Graphic Novel
School Library Journal Book Review Stars, 2009
Stuff for the Teen Age, 2010 For Real
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2010
YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2010

Keywords

surgery; psychiatrist; radiology; homicide; x-rays; negligent parents; lack of communication

Diversity Impact

direct

Stitches

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