APA Citation

Thompson, C. (2006). Good-bye Chunky Rice. New York: Pantheon.

ISBN

0-375-71476-6

Rating

5Q/4P

Top 10

no

Media

Pencil, ink

Grades/Subject

10-12

Annotation

Chunky Rice is in search of a place to belong and departs for the sea while his best friend Dandel, a deer mouse, knows her home.

Element Illustration

Onomatopoeia

For such a quiet little graphic novel, there is a great deal of sound. The “chshhhhh” of the rain takes Chunk Rice back to his nights sleeping in a tent beside Dandel. A couple of the characters are distinguished by the sounds they make: Merle’s “doot doot” takes the place of language, Livonia/Ruth’s movements can be tracked by the “squeak” of their wheeled crutch, and Solomon spends almost as much time “sniff”ing than speaking. This, on top of the atmospheric sounds that emanate on every page, offers a story full of life and movement.

Theme

According to his website, this book is all about the longing and suffering that occurs when a person leaves what has been home, to seek out a greater “perhaps.” Chunky Rice is the seeker, leaving behind his friends and his one great love, Dandel, encountering the frightening unknown in the form of his fellow travelers. Again and again, the disassociation is shown, from the strangeness of Livonia/Ruth, to Chunky Rice’s letters, to Merle’s taking off and returning home.