Josephine

The silent graphic novel Josephine, Kevin Sacco’s first work since his acclaimed The Plane Story, shows us the emotional journey of a young boy with a complicated family life as he discovers the realities of racial inequality during a journey from his comfortable  from his Upper West Side comforts to his nanny’s home/neighborhood haunts in Harlem. At the heart of this narrative is the bond the boy shares with Josephine—until a sinister plot twist casts a dark shadow on their relationship.

" I grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side in the 1960's. My drawings are an attempt to recapture the chaos and magic of this era” noted writer artist Sacco in describing his approach to Josephine. “The story of Josephine draws on my personal experience with parents who were too busy with their own lives to attend to a young boy. I was often left in the charge of a "live-in"-a role now referred to as a nanny. The character of Josephine is a composite of-and tribute to-these loving caretakers.” The artwork in the book, a mostly gray, sketchy black and white style fits the mood of the era. “I decided to tell the story with no words because I wanted readers to see the events as they lived- in the young boy's mind." added Sacco.