Like so many others I’m taken by the almost science-fictional aspect of the current cloud created by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption. That is, how the machinery of contemporary air travel in Europe has been forced to a near-halt by Mother Nature. And it also made me think of Don Wood’s wonderful graphic novel of a few years back, Into the Volcano. Here’s what I wrote after first reading it.
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.
educating alice 