Overview

"In this short graphic novel, acclaimed author Youme joins with Anthony Horton to tell the true story of how Anthony lived and created art underneath the New York City subway system. ""On the subway, do you ever notice that people are always looking, but they only see what they want to?""Anthony Horton asks. A guide, an observer of the many, and resident of the spaces below New York City streets, he's happy to show you how he lives in the tunnels underneath the subway system--that is, if you'll let him show you. Which is exactly what happened when Youme and Anthony began a conversation in the subway about art. It turns out that both Youme and Anthony are artists. While part of Youme's art is listening long and hard to the stories of the people she meets, part of Anthony's job is making art out of what most people won't even look at. Thus began a unique collaboration and conversation between two artists over a year, which culminated in this very graphic novel Pitch Black. With art and words, they map out Anthony's life and world--a tough one from many perspectives, startling and undoing from others. But from Anthony's point of view, it's a life lived as art."

Full Product Details

9781643796567

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Reviews

"""I found it immediately engaging and also interesting in the respect that at first you think it's about homelessness then, as you read on, perhaps about race and, finally, you discover that it reaches for something beyond those thorny and somewhat shopworn subjects; the simple and pure light of hope."" -- Lee Stringer, author of the award-winning book Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street * ""After showing Youme his life six stories below the city, the two artists begin a collaboration that ends in this beautiful, gritty biography. Both Youme and Anthony contributed text and art to the book-their black and gray watercolors are tender and raw, their words spare and poetic. This book's unflinching look at homelessness and the ability to find hope and inspiration in the dark will appeal greatly to teens."" -- School Library Journal, starred review ""The book details the filthy and often frightening conditions in the subway tunnels and introduces the readers to a handful of colorful characters, though its focus is on the two main characters' friendship and collaboration."" -- The New York Times ""Drawn in a simple almost child-like manner in black and white ink washes. It is both the story of how Landowne and Horton came to be friends, but also a primer on Horton's life as a homeless man in New York City."" -- Publishers Weekly ""Muralist and book artist Landowne met Horton shortly after the release of her 2004 picture book Selavi; the two collaborate here to bring Horton's story of perseverance and hope to print, and the fluid black-and-white sequential panels tell it well. The horrors attendant on homelessness are not sugarcoated, and the language is as raw and gritty as one might expect. Powerful."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""This spare but rich gray-and-black graphic novel about his life draws on both of their words and art. Growing up rejected by parents and then foster care, Horton ended up on the streets and then in the hell of the city's shelters. Eventually, he escaped into the subway tunnels and found mentors and a life where 'anything you need can be found in the garbage.'"" -- Library Journal Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, YALSA Skipping Stones Honor Award, Skipping Stones Magazine Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education"

I found it immediately engaging and also interesting in the respect that at first you think it's about homelessness then, as you read on, perhaps about race and, finally, you discover that it reaches for something beyond those thorny and somewhat shopworn subjects; the simple and pure light of hope. -- Lee Stringer, author of the award-winning book Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street * After showing Youme his life six stories below the city, the two artists begin a collaboration that ends in this beautiful, gritty biography. Both Youme and Anthony contributed text and art to the book--their black and gray watercolors are tender and raw, their words spare and poetic. This book's unflinching look at homelessness and the ability to find hope and inspiration in the dark will appeal greatly to teens. -- School Library Journal, starred review The book details the filthy and often frightening conditions in the subway tunnels and introduces the readers to a handful of colorful characters, though its focus is on the two main characters' friendship and collaboration. -- The New York Times Drawn in a simple almost child-like manner in black and white ink washes. It is both the story of how Landowne and Horton came to be friends, but also a primer on Horton's life as a homeless man in New York City. -- Publishers Weekly Muralist and book artist Landowne met Horton shortly after the release of her 2004 picture book Selavi; the two collaborate here to bring Horton's story of perseverance and hope to print, and the fluid black-and-white sequential panels tell it well. The horrors attendant on homelessness are not sugarcoated, and the language is as raw and gritty as one might expect. Powerful. -- Kirkus Reviews This spare but rich gray-and-black graphic novel about his life draws on both of their words and art. Growing up rejected by parents and then foster care, Horton ended up on the streets and then in the hell of the city's shelters. Eventually, he escaped into the subway tunnels and found mentors and a life where 'anything you need can be found in the garbage.' -- Library Journal Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, YALSA Skipping Stones Honor Award, Skipping Stones Magazine Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education

"""I found it immediately engaging and also interesting in the respect that at first you think it's about homelessness then, as you read on, perhaps about race and, finally, you discover that it reaches for something beyond those thorny and somewhat shopworn subjects; the simple and pure light of hope."" -- Lee Stringer, author of the award-winning book Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street * ""After showing Youme his life six stories below the city, the two artists begin a collaboration that ends in this beautiful, gritty biography. Both Youme and Anthony contributed text and art to the book-their black and gray watercolors are tender and raw, their words spare and poetic. This book's unflinching look at homelessness and the ability to find hope and inspiration in the dark will appeal greatly to teens."" -- School Library Journal, starred review ""The book details the filthy and often frightening conditions in the subway tunnels and introduces the readers to a handful of colorful characters, though its focus is on the two main characters' friendship and collaboration."" -- The New York Times ""Drawn in a simple almost child-like manner in black and white ink washes. It is both the story of how Landowne and Horton came to be friends, but also a primer on Horton's life as a homeless man in New York City."" -- Publishers Weekly ""Muralist and book artist Landowne met Horton shortly after the release of her 2004 picture book Selavi; the two collaborate here to bring Horton's story of perseverance and hope to print, and the fluid black-and-white sequential panels tell it well. The horrors attendant on homelessness are not sugarcoated, and the language is as raw and gritty as one might expect. Powerful."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""This spare but rich gray-and-black graphic novel about his life draws on both of their words and art. Growing up rejected by parents and then foster care, Horton ended up on the streets and then in the hell of the city's shelters. Eventually, he escaped into the subway tunnels and found mentors and a life where 'anything you need can be found in the garbage.'"" -- Library Journal Best Children's Books of the Year 2009 - Bank Street College of Education Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Top Ten 2009 - Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Skipping Stones Book Awards Honor - Skipping Stones Magazine"

"""I found it immediately engaging and also interesting in the respect that at first you think it's about homelessness then, as you read on, perhaps about race and, finally, you discover that it reaches for something beyond those thorny and somewhat shopworn subjects; the simple and pure light of hope."" -- Lee Stringer, author of the award-winning book Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street * ""After showing Youme his life six stories below the city, the two artists begin a collaboration that ends in this beautiful, gritty biography. Both Youme and Anthony contributed text and art to the book--their black and gray watercolors are tender and raw, their words spare and poetic. This book's unflinching look at homelessness and the ability to find hope and inspiration in the dark will appeal greatly to teens."" -- School Library Journal, starred review ""The book details the filthy and often frightening conditions in the subway tunnels and introduces the readers to a handful of colorful characters, though its focus is on the two main characters' friendship and collaboration."" -- The New York Times ""Drawn in a simple almost child-like manner in black and white ink washes. It is both the story of how Landowne and Horton came to be friends, but also a primer on Horton's life as a homeless man in New York City."" -- Publishers Weekly ""Muralist and book artist Landowne met Horton shortly after the release of her 2004 picture book Selavi; the two collaborate here to bring Horton's story of perseverance and hope to print, and the fluid black-and-white sequential panels tell it well. The horrors attendant on homelessness are not sugarcoated, and the language is as raw and gritty as one might expect. Powerful."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""This spare but rich gray-and-black graphic novel about his life draws on both of their words and art. Growing up rejected by parents and then foster care, Horton ended up on the streets and then in the hell of the city's shelters. Eventually, he escaped into the subway tunnels and found mentors and a life where 'anything you need can be found in the garbage.'"" -- Library Journal Best Children's Books of the Year - Bank Street College of Education Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Top Ten - Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Skipping Stones Book Awards Honor - Skipping Stones Magazine"

Author Information

Anthony Horton (1968--2012) was an unhoused artist living underneath New York City. His work can be seen along the tunnel walls in the darkest parts of the transit system. Anthony met Youme some years ago and together they embarked on a journey to bring Pitch Black to light. Youme grew up loving stories. She has lived and worked as a community artist in New York, New Haven, Miami, Woods Hole, San Francisco, Kenya, Japan, Lao P.D.R., Vietnam, St. John, U.S.V.I., Haiti, and Cuba. Youme's books include Selavi (That Is Life): A Haitian Story of Hope, Mali Under the Night Sky: A Lao Story of Home, and Pitch Black with Anthony Horton. She is drawn to stories of survival and champions for social justice. Youme lives in an ever-changing location with her partner and their two children.

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