The next day : a graphic novella /

Peterson, Gilmore, and Porcellino combine their talents to provide a fully accessible, eloquently simple, and accurate examination of how four people choose death and then face the day and life after the failed attempt. Suicidal efforts, tendencies, and aftermaths lack uniformity, just like the expressions of most human distresses. By presenting four real-life individuals' stories from the putative causes of failed hope to the days leading up to the suicide attempt and through ensuing lifesaving treatments and experiences this graphic novella allows readers to identify as fellow sufferers, care providers, confused friends, and family members. Porcellino's minimalist black line drawings manage to present subtlety in spite of their understatement. This book is one dimension of a larger, interactive effort, like Dan Savage's It Gets Better project, to bring awareness, hope, and understanding to both sufferers and those who care for them. Relevant and important in any community, it belongs in all collections.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2010 Booklist

Similarly to Daryl Cunningham's Psychiatric Tales, this book by social worker Peterson and filmmaker Gilmore educates about the profound psychosocial event of suicide in a simple and enlightening way. Four survivors tell of their own near-fatal suicide attempts, not as four single stories but as one larger story that flips among speakers in segments titled "The Day of," "The Days Before," and "The Next Day." Thus the emphasis is not on the individuals so much as on the commonalities among them. Porcellino's (King Cat Comics) simple art implies that suicide is not romantic or extraordinary-just another unfortunate decision some people make, even if for understandable reasons. And like other decisions, you can-and in this case should-change your mind: "You are not meant to be dead." At least not yet. A related interactive online experience at nfb.ca/thenextday gives the original audio interviews, enhanced by animated Porcellino drawings. VERDICT With the mantra "Nearly one million people die from suicide.... What if they had waited just one more day?" this deceptively artless graphic novel speaks to tweens through adults wanting to understand suicide.-M.C. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.