"An astonishing and affecting graphic novel reacting to COVID, climate change and the death of George Floyd"
This remarkable collaboration between Carnegie medal winning Jason Reynolds and acclaimed artist Jason Griffin has created both a lasting memorial to what the world endured in the pandemic of 2020 and a testament to the enduring horror of racism and what humans do to each other and the world.
Printed on yellowed lined paper with every appearance of a notebook it looks and feels like an artefact of the troubled times we have all survived. This is lived experience we can all share with the creators, who have captured so brilliantly the sheer claustrophobia of being trapped within four walls, as indeed is the narrator.
With a mother glued to the news with its rolling horror and a brother glued to his video games, a father coughing in isolation and a sister plotting protest, the boy wonders why the human race seems so intent on destroying themselves. The collage illustrations mainline emotion and every word of the spare poetic narrative hits home.
The connection between George Floyd unable to breathe, tear gas victims unable to breathe, COVID victims unable to breath and the world in the grip of pollution, unable to breathe is truly powerful. But what we and the narrator realise is that the everyday mundane moments that we share with our loved ones is our “oxygen mask” and the repeated refrain as we are reminded to “breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth” brings solace and hope. While capturing a specific moment in time the messages are timeless and enduring.
This is essential reading.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
And so for anyone who didn't really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you'll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is . . .
Intimately set within the walls of a family home, this book is an incredible artefact of the historic year we have all lived through. We travel from the depths of despair but not without hope; the mundane details contained within four walls becomes our sanctuary.
This is a gift in commemoration of a time and place, of a world wide pandemic, of loss and of the murder of George Floyd. It is a reminder of how, in uncertain times, we can cling to the simple things for respite, for hope.
A reminder of how comforting books and artworks are in times of extreme stress.
Oxygen Mask features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Political / Legal Thrillers, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Thriller and Suspense, Fiction
Oxygen Mask is available in Paperback
Oxygen Mask was written by Jason Reynolds and published by Faber & Faber
Oxygen Mask has 384 pages
