Into the Volcano

Don Wood's INTO THE VOLCANO presents an outstanding graphic novel by an award-winning artist who himself lives in a tropical jungle. His story tells of two brothers facing an erupting volcano, and how their expedition changes a vacation hike into a dangerous battle for survival against not only nature, but human greed. Reluctant readers who love graphic novel/comic book formats will find the detailed adventure easy to absorb, with its pages packed with action and color illustrations.

Look, I hate to burst your bubble but not every picture book illustrator born is necessarily cut out to write his or her own graphic novel. It's an entirely different set of muscles, after all. Melding text and image well enough to sustain a story means having a firm grasp of what does and does not work as a comic. So I know you might have gotten all excited when you heard that Don Wood had written a graphic novel, but don't be happy because a great Caldecott-winning illustrator has dipped his toe in a new format. Be happy because the man is good at it. Crazy good. He may have amused you with King Bidgood's in the Bathtub or entertained your children with his The Napping House but sister you ain't seen anything like to compare to his breathtakingly beautiful Into the Volcano. The past ten years have seen incredible strides in graphic novels for children. Into the Volcano appears to be the next logical step in the process. A full-color adventure with double crosses, death-defying escapes, and personal growth, it has no equal. The Pugg brothers Duffy and Sumno are just sitting in their classroom in the dead of winter one moment and the next they're being whisked off to the island nation of Kocalaha. It seems their Aunt Lulu has been longing for a visit from her nephews and Duffy, for one, is thrilled. Sumo's far more reticent and likely to complain, a quality that doesn't serve a person well in Kocalaha. Soon they meet their cousin Mister Come-and-Go who disappears and reappears without a warning. They meet the beautiful Pulina, her boyfriend Kaleo, and Mango Joe, a fellow in the witness protection program. But not all is right on this beautiful island. Why won't Auntie let the boys talk to their dad on the phone? Why is everyone so gung-ho certain that the boys should go on this "expedition" that they're told is done for all the tourists but seems to mask a sinister plan. Before Duffy and Sumno know it they're dodging lava streams and spelunking in dangerous territory. But in a world where no one is what they seem, people of seeming weakness can find the strength to do what must be done. I've been saying for a while that at some point an artist is going to create a graphic novel so visually stunning that the American Library Association will either have to start handing Caldecott Medals over to comic books or create an entirely new award for them. We've come close in the past. Mouse Guard was beautiful, but the story didn't hold up its end of the bargain. The Arrival would have been ideal, but the book wasn't originally published in America. Into the Volcano, though... now here's a title with potential. The entire enterprise is so lush you find yourself just poring over the images for long periods of time. Honestly, I could see a real push put to have this considered as the very first graphic novel worthy of a major children's award. Yet in many ways, it may come down to the way in which it was drawn. According to Scholastic's press material, Mr

I've been trying to think of unique ways to describe this graphic novel without using "visually stunning" and "breathtakingly beautiful," but I can't do it. Every panel is a work of art. The scenes where the lava meets the ocean are perfect. It's just ink on a page, but Wood captures the light, the hiss, and the heat. The graphic novel not only stands up to artistic scrutiny, but also has a gripping story. It's a mystery, adventure that appeals to a younger audience, but I found myself engrossed. Brothers, Sumo and Duffy, are pulled out of class unexpectedly by their father to be shipped off to an island with a mysterious cousin they've never met. The whole enterprise is shady, and when the boys meet Auntie, it gets even more suspicious. The book twists and turns, so the reader is never quite sure who's good and who's bad. The boys have to do some self-reflection. Wood's artistic portrayals of the characters captivated me. I was shaken by overweight Auntie with her greenish-pink skin and broken foot. I immediately knew something wasn't quite right with her. You can almost smell her. The boys have a pugish Hawaiian look, which made me not fall for them right away. That's a good thing. Most books aimed at younger audiences try to win the reader over to the protagonist's side with sentimentality too soon. Wood's style and scope gives the book a cinematic depth that I have rarely seen in graphic novels. One panel you're in the boat with the characters, waves pounding; the next you have a bird's eye view. It sets a fast adventure pace that young readers will love. Overall, I'll be shocked if Into The Volcano doesn't win some awards.

Wow. Don Wood's Into the Volcano is one powerhouse of a graphic novel that you won't want to miss. In fact, as far as missing goes, I almost missed my bus stop so engrossed was I in this totally wild adventure in and under and around an erupting volcano. The word gripping is completely apt for this (here comes another trite but accurate word) roller coaster of a read. Wood grabs you on the first page as brothers Duffy and Sumo are called out of their classroom to meet their father who immediately turns them over to a cousin they have never met before, the burly Come-And-Go. Before any of us can take a breath, the two boys (who appear to be between 8 and 12 years of age) are flying off to their just-learned-about mother's home island of Kocalaha. Once there they and we are thrown into an extraordinary adventure involving questionable people (are they good or bad?), an erupting volcano, secrets (of every sort), life and death circumstances, heart-stopping moments (many of them!), and family ties. A truly brilliant work.