Cover:
Bibliographic
Information:
Title: My Friend Dahmer
Author: Derf
ISBN: 978-1419702167
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Copyright: 2012
Reader’s
Annotation:
You never know who your high school classmates will
turn out to be.
Summary:
A strange boy is seen collecting a dead animal
carcass, and wanting to dissolve it in acid.
That is how we first meet Jeffrey Dahmer. Derf recounts his first encounters with
Dahmer, and the fact that for the most part, Dahmer was a loner at school. When Dahmer’s parents split up, he began
acting out at school, in ways that amused his classmates. As high school continued, Dahmer began
drinking, and eventually starting coming to school drunk. He continued to be a clown around his
classmates, to the extent that he became a caricature. He tries to fit in, even attending his senior
prom, but he has no real friends, and no place where he fits. Shortly after graduating from high school,
Dahmer commits his first murder.
Critical
Evaluation:
This is vastly different from the other graphic
novels in this collection. First off,
this graphic novel is based on a real person, a scary person, one Jeffery
Dahmer. Derf Backderf does an amazing
job recreating his youthful encounters with Dahmer on the page. The subject matter is strange, and dark; it
makes the reader uncomfortable. You know
when a book begins with a dead cat, the tone is going to be somber. Even in the scenes where Dahmer is cutting up
for his friends, impersonating his mother’s decorator, there is an air of
sadness. It is clearly established that
Dahmer is a loner, and is trying so hard to find a place to fit, with people
who will not abandon him. This is a
desire that will push him to do horrific things as the story progresses.
Visually, the book looks quite different as
well. There is no use of color; all the
drawings done in black, white, and shades of grey. As an artistic choice, I think this makes a
strong statement. This indicates how
stark Dahmer’s life truly was, even in his earliest days. Any color, even muted colors, would have
detracted from the story. The drawing
style leans toward caricature, which also fits the story, give Dahmer’s
cartoonish behaviors in high school.
Learning you grew up with a serial killer must be a
chilling experience, one that impacts your psyche. By channeling that experience into art, Derf
Backderf has provided readers a window into something they will hopefully never
experience otherwise. The result is a
powerful and unsettling story, as stark as the black and white drawings that
comprise it.
Author
Biography:
Derf sold his first cartoon, a nude portrait of his
sixth grade teacher, for $2 dollars to a classmate who used it for unspeakable
purposes. Today he is one of the most widely-read indy comix creators.
The writer-artist, who works out of an unheated,
attic studio in his Cleveland home, grew up in a rural, small town in Ohio, an
experience that was the inspiration for his graphic novels TRASHED,
PUNK ROCK & TRAILER PARKS and the international bestseller, MY
FRIEND DAHMER.
An art school dropout, Derf worked on a garbage
truck before deciding to give cartooning a try. He attended Ohio State
University on a journalism scholarship, where he drew political cartoons for
the school paper for three years and caused such controversy school officials
put a 1-year limit on all future cartoonists. After graduation, he landed a
similar position on a paper in South Florida but was fired after two years for,
as the editor put it, "general tastelessness." He moved to Cleveland
and THE CITY comic strip debuted in the now-defunct Cleveland
Edition in 1990. A year later, he began selling it to other
alternative papers. The strip appeared in over 140 publications during it's
20-plus years, including The Village Voice, Chicago Reader and The
Los Angeles Reader. THE CITY was retired in 2013 so Derf could
concentrate on books.
Derf's images have also graced t-shirts, posters and
cd & record covers. His manic illustrations have appeared in all manner of
publications, ranging from Guitar Player magazine to the Wall
St. Journal.
His work has been displayed in museums and galleries
worldwide. He has been nominated for two Eisner Awards (the Oscars of comix),
as well as Harvey, Ignatz and Rueben Awards. He was the recipient of a
pretigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for political cartoons in 2006
and an Angoulême Prize for My Friend Dahmer in 2014. The
Derf Collection, comprized of three decades of original art and papers, is
part of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at Ohio State University.
Genre(s):
Graphic Novel
Curriculum
Ties:
Pennsylvania State Standard - CC.1.2.11-12.LRead and comprehend literary non-fiction and informational text on grade level, reading independently and proficiently.
Booktalk
Ideas:
A discussion about high school friendships and what
happens to them after high school
A discussion about how, at some point, every person
who has done something bad was once just a kid
Reading
Level:
AR Reading Level 3.6
Interest
Age:
14 and up
Challenge
Issues: Could be
challenged based on scenes involving teen substance use, violence, and teen
sexuality.
If
this book were challenged I would:
· Listen to the concerns of the person
raising the challenge
· Consult the library’s collection
development policy
· Explain how this work meets a library
need based on the collection development policy
· Consult YALSA’s Dealing with Challenges to
Young Adult Materials
· Consult reviews on VOYA, Amazon,
Common Sense Media, and Kirkus
· Discuss any awards or notable
commendations the book received
· Explain the library’s commitment to
intellectual freedom as discussed in the ALA Library Bill of
Rights
· Give the patron the procedure for a
formal challenge should they seek to pursue it
Why
was this book selected:
As a fan of true crime and horror related graphic
novels, I have to admit that I had a personal interest in reading this book and
including it in the collection. However,
this is also an award winning graphic novel, and it is about to be adapted into
a film, so there is real value to having this in the collection. As more and more teens are becoming
interested in crime and horror related materials, I anticipate that many would
be interested in this graphic novel.
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