Bootblack -- Mikael, Hardcover

By the author of the critically acclaimed Giant. On the German front, in the spring of 1945: the war leaves only death and destruction in its wake. To escape the horror of the present, Al, an American soldier, the only survivor of his unit, immerses himself in the memories of his New York life. Son of German immigrants, born in the United States, he was not yet ten years old when, in one night, under the approving eyes of anti-immigrant Americans, he lost his parents and his home in a terrible fire. Turning his back on his origins, Al has no choice but to live on the streets; he becomes a Bootblack, a shoe shiner. With his friend Shiny, they somehow manage to survive by sticking together. Six years later, in 1935, they meet Buster and the ambitious Diddle Joe. And then there's Maggie, the girl Al is in love with and whose esteem he ardently longs for. And this, even as she makes it clear to him that they do not live in the same world. New York offers no future for the poor, Al understood that. He is therefore determined to earn more money, whatever the means. But he does not imagine, at that point, that the war which threatens will soon give him an appointment with his past...

Author: Mikael
Publisher: Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing
Published: 06/14/2022
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.85lbs
Size: 12.24h x 9.06w x 0.53d
ISBN: 9781681122960

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 05/02/2022
Booklist 05/15/2022 pg. 36

About the Author
An autodidact, French artist Mikael, adoptive of French Canada, has illustrated award winning children's books and created graphic novels since 2001. Among his awards are 2 Grand Prizes of the City of Quebec (2015, 2016) and a special mention of the jury for youth at Ouessant, France. Since 2006 he has turned to adult comics, some in collaboration with other writers and artists. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Giant.