Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned by Judd Winick

Enjoy another review from our graphic-novel expert, Christine!

Pub Date: Sept 2000 (re-printed April 2009)

Non-Fiction Graphic Novel (Young Adult)

192 pgs.

If you’re a pop culture junkie like me, you may recognize the name Pedro Zamora.  Pedro was an HIV-positive AIDS educator who starred on MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco in 1994.  If you haven’t heard of him, don’t be discouraged – you don’t need to know him, or have ever watched an episode of The Real World to enjoy this book.

Pedro and Me is a graphic novel, written and drawn by Judd Winick, one of Pedro’s housemates on the popular reality TV show.  The book is an autobiography, but speaks just as much about Pedro as it does the author.  When Judd first learns from the producers of The Real World that he’s going to be living with someone who is HIV-positive, his gut reaction is “why me?”  He’s uncomfortable with the idea, but feels guilty about his discomfort.  All he knows about HIV and AIDS comes from the media – stereotypes and pictures of end-stage AIDS patients in hospitals.

After meeting Pedro, Judd begins to see past these images.  As his friendship with Pedro grows, he realizes how strong and caring Pedro is, despite his HIV status.  Pedro is an AIDS educator – he travels the country giving speeches to young people and appearing on talk shows in order to educate the public about HIV/AIDS and how it can be prevented.  He sees The Real World as an opportunity to educate millions of Americans at once.  And he certainly succeeds.  His story continues to touch lives, even after his death.

This book is exceptional for its inspiring story of friendship, growth, and an important and all-too-often taboo topic.  It teaches practical information about HIV/AIDS and its prevention, while at the same time teaching about the humanity within all people.  Pedro is certainly praised, but he is not lifted on a pedestal.  He is human, just like the rest of us, and he gets angry, scared, and frustrated like we all do.  This book is sentimental and emotional, but also funny and informative.  You’ll probably be crying by the story’s unavoidable ending.       -Christine

Featured Contributor Friday

Today we’re excited to have another brand-new writer for the blog: Christine, who works mainly in the Reference department and has a special interest in YA titles. Also, she’s helping this blog branch out by contributing our very first review of a graphic novel. Enjoy!

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Graphic Novel (Young Adult)

Pub Date: Nov. 2008

436 pgs.

Summer is over, and that means that Masconomet High School’s summer reading books are slowly making their way back into the library.  Here’s a look at one that holds a soft spot in my heart: one of the suggested titles for the 12^th grade elective course “The Graphic Novel.”

Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was the only graphic novel on Time magazine’s 2005 list of All Time Greatest Novels.  It is part superhero comic, part science-fiction, part alternative history, and part political intrigue.  The book takes place in an alternate 1980’s New York City, where “costumed vigilantes” have recently become outlawed.  When a vigilante named The Comedian is found dead, fellow former-superhero Rorschach suspects a plot to destroy all vigilantes, and begins an investigation on his own…outside of the law.

Watchmen is noted for its deconstruction of the superhero archetype, showing heroes who are incredibly flawed, and incredibly human.  The Comedian is a cynical, ruthless killer employed by the US government.  Rorschach is extremely right-wing, possibly mentally ill, and sees morality in black-and-white.  Doctor Manhattan, the only character with actual superpowers, feels like an outcast because of them, and sees the world so differently from the rest of humanity that he no longer cares at all about the human race.

This book requires a suspension of disbelief from its reader, but if you stick with it, it will reward you.  You may have heard of the movie, which hit theaters last March.  It’s visually stunning and a great adaptation, in my opinion, but you might want to both read the book and watch the film.  Doing one will enrich your experience of the other.  -Christine