Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword - Barry Deutsch

Hereville:How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch
I loved this graphic novel. It has one of the best tag lines of the year -
"Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11 yr old Orthodox Jewish Girl"
The Hirschberg family lives in an Orthodox Jewish community. 11 yr old Mirka dreams of fighting dragons but her step mother insist that she learn how to stitch.

While walking home from school, with three of her siblings, Mirka eats a big grape from someone else's property. Seconds after Mirka finishes the grape this huge pig comes out. The pig is pissed about the stolen grape.

Lucky for us, because watching Mirka run for her life is very funny. The angry pig makes Mirka's life hell for the next few days. At school, Mirka's older sister Gittel wants her to stop talking about the pig out for revenge. Gittel's worried Mirka's "story" will keep her from getting a good husband. Mirka doesn't care want anyone thinks, she just wants to slay dragons.

I loved Mirka and her siblings. There voices were perfect. I think this story works so well because the author took the time to develop Hereville and the Hirschberg family. He seamlessly includes the Orthodox Jewish faith of the community into the story. Without making a big deal about it. Its simply is what it is. I think that's why I appreciated it so much.

Hereville is one of the best graphic novel's I've read this year. I laughed my way through it, yet there were still moments that touched my heart. I love being able to read and see the action at the same time. Deutsch's panels are great.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I know I didn't to it much justice. So check out more reviews via author's site

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey doret,
How Mirka Got Her Sword tory sounds hilarious. i really enjoyed reading this post.
!!! : )
Mayra

Doret said...

Thanks Mayra. Hereville is so good. And how can anyone not love that cover.

Anonymous said...

that is a Fantastic tag line!

wow, this sounds funny. and we like a good, humorous, graphic novel in our family, especially those featuring troll-fighting 11 yr old Orthodox Jewish girls.

Looking forward to this read. thanks for the recommend.

~L