When You Look Up

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Age range 9 to 12

Lorenzo isn't happy about moving. But in his new room, he finds an old desk with what seems likes hundreds of drawers. Each even has its own smell! Deep inside the desk, he finds a book and begins to read.

When he looks up, he sees all kinds of curious things. Has the book come to life Or is it something else

This is a graphic novel about observation, imagination, and the many incredible lenses through which everyday experience might be perceived if you read.

Reviews

"Children will pore over this moody watercolor-soaked story of an introverts creative awakening, which contains within it a bright collage of weirdly wonderful dreams and nightmares, while adults will covet it as a work of art that speaks to their inner child. A picture book-graphic novel hybrid by the self-taught Argentine artist Guillermo Decurgez (known as Decur), translated by Chloe Garcia Roberts and also available in a Spanish-language edition, it begins on 'moving day,' as a boy who believes the world exists only inside his cellphone finds a mysterious notebook in the secret compartment of a desk in his new room."--The New York Times

"Decur toggles deftly between Lorenzos world and surreal episodes from the journal, the crisp, brightly colored pages crackling with circus-like energy, the somber paintings reflecting Lorenzos slow but steady awakening."--Publishers Weekly

"When You Look Upis a powerful, brilliant book about discovering ourselves through and in stories. This is a profound, powerful, brilliant picture book about stories within stories, stories about stories, stories for stories. Its a book that takes you to your own hidden depths and urges you to become both a creator and an interpreter. Its about reaching within and reaching out."--The Indian Express

"Argentine writer and illustrator Decurgez employs a variety of artistic techniques to transport Lorenzo, and middle-grade readers, in and out of the imaginative world of the notebook. At 184 pages, this extended picture book is a visual feast, but also quietly thoughtful." --World Magazine

Author Bio

Guillermo Decurgez, Decur, was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1981. He is a self-taught cartoonist and illustrator, and the author of Merci!, Pip cuc, Semillas 1 and Mi cajn favorito. His work has been published in the newspapers La Nacin and La Posta Hoy, and in the magazines Orsai, Fierro, free lyrics, Ineditadas, and . He has also illustrated Cents del globe 3, the board game The Switcher, the Mrs. Holle stories, El poroto mgico, The almost perfect crime, and Ivan, the Fool. His paintings have been exhibited in France, Spain, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, La Rioja, Buenos Aires, and Rosario. Decurs English-language graphic novel debut, When You Look Up, will publish in 2020 from Enchanted Lion Books.

Chloe Garcia Robertsis a poet and translator from the Spanish and Chinese. She is the author of a book of poetry,The Reveal, which was published as part of Noemi Presss Akrilika Series for innovative Latino writing. Her translations include Li ShangyinsDerangements of My Contemporaries: Miscellaneous Notes(New Directions), which was awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant, and a collected poems of Li Shangyin published in the New York Review Books / Poets series. Her translations of childrens literature include Cao WenxuansFeather(Archipelago Books/Elsewhere Editions) which was an USBBY Outstanding International Book for 2019, and DecursWhen You Look Up(Enchanted Lion) which was named a Best Childrens Book of 2020 by the New York Times. Her essays, poems, and translations have appeared in the publicationsBOMB, Boston Review, A Public Space, Kenyon Review, Spoon River Poetry ReviewandGulf Coastamong others. She lives outside Boston and works as managing editor ofHarvard Review.