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102nd out of 113 books
—
47 voters
Refresh, Refresh: A Graphic Novel
by
Danica Novgorodoff,
James Ponsoldt, Benjamin Percy (Goodreads Author)
Fathers, sons, and the war that comes between them.
There's nothing Josh, Cody, and Gordon want more than their fathers home safely from the war in Iraq -- unless it's to get out of their dead-end town. Refresh, Refresh is the story of three teenagers on the cusp of high school graduation and their struggle to make hard decisions with no role models to follow; to discover t...more
There's nothing Josh, Cody, and Gordon want more than their fathers home safely from the war in Iraq -- unless it's to get out of their dead-end town. Refresh, Refresh is the story of three teenagers on the cusp of high school graduation and their struggle to make hard decisions with no role models to follow; to discover t...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published
September 29th 2009
by First Second
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Although I understood the plight of the boys, this was a little too pro-military for me. It reads like a "Join the Army" brochure. Ponsoldt writes teenage boys very well, and this wasn't what I'd call a waste of time ('course I read it in like 15 minutes). However, the whole tragedy leads to conformity ending really pissed me off.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Oct 02, 2011
Nicole
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
No one. If you like "left behind" war stories, then eh, maybe it's for you.
Recommended to Nicole by:
Comics and Graphic Novels (Class)
Shelves:
graphic-novels
This sounded like it was going to be a lot more interesting and deep than it turned out to be. Very few words throughout the entire thing. It was one of those reads that was mostly pictures, and that had just enough conversation to fill in the blanks and make some impact.
Overall, I don't have much to say about this book. It was so swift and without anything really of consequence that I read the entire thing, front to back, in less than half an hour. I took no breaks, and whatever thoughts I had...more
Overall, I don't have much to say about this book. It was so swift and without anything really of consequence that I read the entire thing, front to back, in less than half an hour. I took no breaks, and whatever thoughts I had...more
1 like · like · see review
I liked seeing a story about what goes on at home during war, but as a former Army wife there were a lot of things that seemed off to me:
- There are several reservists families deployed at the same time from the same town, so the community is going through the deployment together. However, from my experience, this would be rare. Being a National Guard or Reservists family is incredibly isolating. You're surrounded by people who are not affected much by the war.
- When the boys are at a bar, they...more
- There are several reservists families deployed at the same time from the same town, so the community is going through the deployment together. However, from my experience, this would be rare. Being a National Guard or Reservists family is incredibly isolating. You're surrounded by people who are not affected much by the war.
- When the boys are at a bar, they...more
When I read that this was a graphic novelization of a screenplay adapted from a short story, I got worried. I'd read some good reviews of this, but could it really be that great?
But I sped right through it and really felt for the characters. My library serves many military families stationed at Fort Lewis so I felt a special connection with these boy's stories. The plot didn't have as much to do with their backyard boxing ring as I expected. All three boys have very different experiences with t...more
But I sped right through it and really felt for the characters. My library serves many military families stationed at Fort Lewis so I felt a special connection with these boy's stories. The plot didn't have as much to do with their backyard boxing ring as I expected. All three boys have very different experiences with t...more
Well...I would give it a 3.5.
"Refresh, Refresh" is a graphic novel that follows three teen boys (Josh, Cody, and Gordon) all struggling with the "loss" of their fathers who are soldiers in Iraq. They continuously click "refresh" on their computers, hoping for news from their dads. Their frustration and rage grows and festers to the point where they can not contain it and look for ways to vent. They do this in largely unhealthy ways (violence, substance abuse, sex, etc.). The book is disturbing...more
"Refresh, Refresh" is a graphic novel that follows three teen boys (Josh, Cody, and Gordon) all struggling with the "loss" of their fathers who are soldiers in Iraq. They continuously click "refresh" on their computers, hoping for news from their dads. Their frustration and rage grows and festers to the point where they can not contain it and look for ways to vent. They do this in largely unhealthy ways (violence, substance abuse, sex, etc.). The book is disturbing...more
Aaargh!
This book has had me tied up in knots since I finished it yesterday. I don't know if it's because of the air of quiet desperation hovering around the pages, that certain knowledge that NOTHING will end well for anyone, or if it's the fact that I have two teenaged boys whose futures I'm worried about... It's not a pleasant feeling.
The boys in this story live in rural Oregon. Their fathers are fighting in Iraq. There's not much to do but hang out in the Walmart parking lot, drink, and get...more
This book has had me tied up in knots since I finished it yesterday. I don't know if it's because of the air of quiet desperation hovering around the pages, that certain knowledge that NOTHING will end well for anyone, or if it's the fact that I have two teenaged boys whose futures I'm worried about... It's not a pleasant feeling.
The boys in this story live in rural Oregon. Their fathers are fighting in Iraq. There's not much to do but hang out in the Walmart parking lot, drink, and get...more
A quality story with a classic plot to it
This book was well worth the time spent! The author James Ponsoldt really did a marvelous job with his story line in this book. He did a good job of describing the lives of not just the main characters, but also the remaining parts that are not as important, but is still needed to explain the situations well.One of the reasons why i really love this book is because even at a few of its driest parts, the book still has a type of cling to it that keeps the...more
This book was well worth the time spent! The author James Ponsoldt really did a marvelous job with his story line in this book. He did a good job of describing the lives of not just the main characters, but also the remaining parts that are not as important, but is still needed to explain the situations well.One of the reasons why i really love this book is because even at a few of its driest parts, the book still has a type of cling to it that keeps the...more
Really a 3 1/2 but the message was so strong I couldn't bear to give it a three.
Very intense. It was a quick read, but it packed a lot in that quick read. It was a little hard to keep track of some of the characters as some of them looked very similar. It seems to be a very small town, and almost every adult male is in the military, but there are a couple of times when you wonder how small it is since the boys get into the bars so easily.
The end is so dark and bleak it just causes shivers to ru...more
Very intense. It was a quick read, but it packed a lot in that quick read. It was a little hard to keep track of some of the characters as some of them looked very similar. It seems to be a very small town, and almost every adult male is in the military, but there are a couple of times when you wonder how small it is since the boys get into the bars so easily.
The end is so dark and bleak it just causes shivers to ru...more
Three boys whose fathers enlisted are left behind to be the men of the house. So sometimes they fight. They fight as if they have something to prove, to their fathers, to their friends or to themselves. When their lives don’t turn out exactly as planned and they end up pulling some stupid stuff. Enlisting themselves might be the only way for them to save themselves. But then, who is left?
This was a gut-wrenching depiction of war-torn families. The title comes from these boys constantly refreshin...more
This was a gut-wrenching depiction of war-torn families. The title comes from these boys constantly refreshin...more
In the humid green hills of Oregon three teenage boys box each other in a muddy back yard. They hunt a deer and dress it, then use its blood and skin to scare the bullies camping out nearby. They sit in diners that are boxes of light in the evening before going out to the bar where they will be served because there are hardly any men left in town of legal drinking age. They hit refresh, refresh on their inboxes to see if their fathers have written them back yet from their posts in Iraq and Afgha...more
I think the book information on this is wrong -- it's based on a movie script by James Ponsoldt, which was based on a story by Benjamin Percy, but from what I can tell Danica Novgorodoff wrote the script as well as doing the art. There's also terrific color art by Hilary Sycamore.
Anyway, the art is wonderful and unsettling, sketchy and unformed the way these boys' lives are. In some ways it's a typical vignette-y 'life in a small town' story (a little reminiscent of Jeff Lemire's 'Essex County')...more
Anyway, the art is wonderful and unsettling, sketchy and unformed the way these boys' lives are. In some ways it's a typical vignette-y 'life in a small town' story (a little reminiscent of Jeff Lemire's 'Essex County')...more
A lot of mixed feelings about this book. Living in Oregon, and teaching high school reading, I wanted this book to be something I could give to my students, something they could relate to, but it is so violent and desperate. The boys are looking for guidance and role models while their fathers are fighting in Iraq. They see the military as their only option. Violence is normalized in their lives, and they don't know how to handle it. I honestly wouldn't give this to teenagers--one has to be able...more
Stark, I don't know why that seems to be a perfect word for this strange tale. Three boys, all with fathers in Iraq and how they go through the motions of every day life-- beating each other up in the backyard, constantly checking their email for word from them, and handling being "the man of the house." It's just a little too much, a little too over the top, although there are instances where you're brought into the world of military life when they come to tell you that you're father has been k...more
So, First Second. Apparently you sell well to the DCPL system. Seeing that imprint lowers my expectations, generally. A little flat, overly "issue"-based, lacking in character development. But I liked Novgorodoff's other book - Slow Storm. Her artwork is good enough that it makes up a little for the stiffness and predictability of the characters, and makes the meandering plot more or less work. A little melodramatic, but not so bad.
Having recent contact with the show Army Wives, and the film The...more
Having recent contact with the show Army Wives, and the film The...more
There were definitely things about this book that were great, and other things that were not. I liked the drawing style for the most part, most notably the opening panels of one object that sort of set the pace for the chapter or subplot. Sometimes, though, I felt like the characters kind of blended together in physical traits. The pacing of the story was well done, but it did seem a bit choppy in certain sections.
In terms of the writing, I'm not familiar with the other initial form of the story...more
In terms of the writing, I'm not familiar with the other initial form of the story...more
Sep 11, 2009
Lynne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lynne by:
David Krump
Shelves:
2009-2010,
graphic-novel
I bought this after I heard Benjamin Percy read the short story that this graphic novel is based on. It was horrific, thought provoking...how Oregon boys whose fathers are in Iraq miss them, emulate them, get sucked into the violence that undergirds this story. The authorship should really be Danica Novgorodoff, since she is the amazing artist who interpreted the screenplay by Ponsoldt. I was transfixed by the sequence near the end which breaks from the comic book format into a kind of nightmare...more
When your whole world has been reduced to shades of gray, the blooming ruby splashes of blood from your homemade fight club really stand out. A group of teen boys suffer the myriad pains of their fathers' deployment, watching their mothers work extra shifts at local factories and other hardships mount. The boys' world has been shifted by the loss of their childhood and innocence, realizing that every time they click "refresh" on their web browsers the growing silence could mean the worst has hap...more
This was a strange book about three friends getting ready to graduate high school. They all have a father in the war, and they doesn't hear from them too often. All three friends have a mean streak and like to play/ fight with each other. Their last days together are eventful with bullies, broads and bad news. Didn't really like the story or art very much, and was not really sympathetic towards the characters . Didn't really care what happened to anybody.Refresh refers to how often they are hitt...more
I don't really know how to write a review of this book, which I guess is why it took me so long to do so. It's so sad, all around, and so hopeless in so many ways. The three boys that are at the center of the story aren't the only ones affected by the war, most of the town is, so there isn't really anywhere for them to go to get away from the worry and fear that they themselves feel. Each of them deals with it in their own ways, coming together for their fights. The prevailing feeling is pain. T...more
I really am not a huge fan of reading graphic novels. This is one of the first ones that I picked up and read cover-to-cover in one sitting.
Three teens deal with the overseas deployment of their fathers by brawling, sneaking into bars, and hunting while desperately waiting to hear word from their fathers. This is a realistic, somber, and emotional tale of teens just trying to get by. The language and graphic nature of several of the drawing sequences fits the subject matter.
Three teens deal with the overseas deployment of their fathers by brawling, sneaking into bars, and hunting while desperately waiting to hear word from their fathers. This is a realistic, somber, and emotional tale of teens just trying to get by. The language and graphic nature of several of the drawing sequences fits the subject matter.
A disturbing tale of three high school boys living in a small town. Their fathers, like many people in the town, have been shipped off to the Iraq war. Left to take on responsibilities and face realities about violence and adulthood, the boys flounder but maintain a tight friendship. The art is not great (I was surprised to learn the artist had used models for the characters, as I had a hard time telling them apart), but there are a few scenes of beauty or well-conveyed emotion.
I'm not so cruel as to give this one star, because it had some interesting points but it was too long for what it was and it seemed like the creators were trying to make this deep social statement about the futility of war, but they made all the characters so unlikable that I didn't really care. They just all seemed so stupid. It would have improved with a more disciplined storyline cutting out pointless "moment in time stories" and having improved character development.
While this is a gripping story that lingers with the reader, I feel compelled to point out that I didn't actually like it. This is not an enjoyable book. I can't imagine enthusiastically recommending it. This story of three teen boys, left to emotionally fend for themselves by their parents during wartime, trying to figure out how to be men is important but often disturbing. However it is a good book and for each book there is a reader.
This is a powerful read about young men growing up in a community with few choices. Each of them have fathers in the armed forces in Iraq. One of their coping strategies is boxing and bloodying one another. When not boxing or getting drunk at the local bar that doesn't care that they are underage, they sit by their computers, refreshing, refreshing them in hopes of hearing from their fathers, to know that they are safe.
This was a decent graphic novel, it reminded me a lot of Blindspot. It's more of a coming of age boy book, so I didn't connect with it that much. The front cover made me think ZOMBIES!, but it's about a realistic story of a boy who is waiting for news from his father who is in the war.
Danica Novgorodoff has been my new favorite artist since I read Slow Storm. She works in watercolors and her style is beautiful. The story is also heartwrenching, about boys growing up in a nowhere town where everyone joins the army and goes to Iraq. I don't know anything else about this author though. But I will probably love anything she illustrates, I hope she keeps it up.
1 like · like · see review
Refresh Refresh is a haunting and heartwrenching novel. Novgorodoff's story follows three teenaged boys growing up in a rural Oregon town that is torn by war--like many of the town's men, the boys' fathers have all been shipped overseas to fight. The story thus frames themes of violence and abandonment as the characters struggle to cope in a world where love, life, and the future are completely unstable.
This novel is disturbing, and such is represented by a vivid violence and an overriding anxi...more
This novel is disturbing, and such is represented by a vivid violence and an overriding anxi...more
Danica Novgorodoff's adaptation of Benjamin Percy's short story (working from a screenplay by James Ponsoldt) is an unflinching look at what teenage boys will do to fill the empty spaces in their lives -- an emptiness that's been intensified in this case by their fathers' departure to serve in the war in Iraq. Raw, violent, brilliant.
A disturbing graphic novel that tells of three boys whose fathers are in Iraq. They get wrapped up in violence and are constantly hitting "refresh, refresh" on their computers in hopes of hearing from their fathers. I'd only recommend this one to mature audience, as there are some pretty graphic scenes, both violent and sexual.
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Nov 22, 2011 02:35am