Stitches
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
STARS Citation
Small, David, "Stitches" (2009). Diverse Families. 2008.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/2008