When David lost his voice /

Middle-aged David develops esophageal cancer, and the members of his family do their best to cope with their impending loss. Vanistendael's beautifully watercolored images depict how his artist wife copes both through her imagination and by using frames from his radiograms in her art; how his younger daughter, a sweet nine-year-old, faces him and asks clearly about his pain and the ramifications of death; and how his much older daughter (by a different mother no longer on the scene) shares her energy and her own newborn with him and the rest of his family. Each chapter is offset with a stanza of poetry that sets the tone for the specific character at its center, while pages unfold in a variety of patterns, from small, tidy panels to filmlike reels across the centerfold to full-page spreads of accessible and stirring imagery. David's last voyage upon the sea of an accepted death is both beautiful and life affirming. Neither sentimental nor cynical, this narrative holds the most delicate aspects of family life gently and openly for readers to immerse themselves.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2010 Booklist

There is something quite powerful about a nearly 300-page graphic novel that can tell a tale of grief and loss with such economy of narrative. When David's doctor and friend, Georg, informs him that he has stage-three cancer of the larynx, David's first thought is of his nine-year old daughter, Tamar. How will she cope with the chemo and radiotherapy he must endure? How can she face the prospect of life without her father? In fact, all of the people in David's life, including his second wife, Paula, and his elder daughter, Miriam, have to figure out how to deal with the inevitability and finality of what they're confronted with. What is so touching about the narrative is how Vanistendael manages to show the different ways that people struggle loss while giving us profound insight into how deeply her characters care for one another. Of special fascination is how Tamar copes-and here the author shows a keen understanding of the mind of a child confronting the incomprehensible. Vanistendael's illustrations are gorgeous, dynamic, and deeply emotive, with a hint of sentimentality. Anyone who has had to deal with the kind of loss explored here will be deeply moved by this story. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

David and the three women in his life together face his cancer, a tumor of the larynx, in individual ways. His adult daughter, Miriam, who has an infant daughter of her own, helps with his care and keeps a matter-of-fact eye on everyone. Daughter Tamar, nine, adores David, buddying up with him on his annual sailing jaunts and, with her friend Max, dreams up fantastic schemes to save him. In case mummification isn't possible (the children practice on their toys), they think that maybe they could catch David's soul in a net. His artist wife Paula-Tamar's mother but not Miriam's-becomes deeply upset as David becomes sicker and more silent. Out of despair, she creates a large skeleton art piece from his X-rays. Meanwhile, David entertains fantasies of his old nanny returning as a sort of angel. The sensitive and compelling writing is enhanced by Vanistendael's color art, which is simple, impressionistic, and beautifully designed. VERDICT This worthy addition to the many excellent illness narratives already on library shelves will appeal to readers of domestic drama, those facing cancer in the family, and health-care professionals. Some nonsexual nudity.-M.C. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.