Calvin was born on December 31, 1995 — the day that the last Calvin and Hobbes strip was published. As a child, he played with a stuffed tiger named "Hobbes", and his best friend was named Susie. Eventually, the stuffed tiger fell apart, and Susie made other friends.
When Calvin is 17, he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Constantly hearing Hobbes' voice in his head, he concludes that his only hope is for Bill Watterson to draw one last strip of Calvin as a healthy 17-year-old, and thus — accompanied by Susie — he sets out to walk across the ice of Lake Erie in an attempt to reach Watterson's Cleveland home.
Publishers Weekly called it "(f)unny, intellectual, and entertaining" and "a sensitive yet irreverent adventure about a serious subject", and noted the possibility that Susie's participation in Calvin's quest may be another hallucination.[2]Kirkus Reviews lauded it as "outstanding" and "far more than the sum of its parts".[3]
At Quill and Quire, Eisha Marjara described the novel as "highly polished", with "virtually flawless" writing and "a plot that could have been hokey but is anything but", and compared Leavitt's dialogue to that of David Mamet.[4]The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books found it to have a "barely credible premise", and to be "schizophrenia-lite" and "more a treatise on philosophy than psychology", but nonetheless praised its "well-paced dialogue", and emphasized its "clever sheen" on "the extreme questions of teenage angst", including "how do we know the difference between what we imagine and what is real", "how should friendships and romantic relationships work", and "how should we grieve the loss of childhood".[5]
Originedit
After having written three novels about homelessness, Martine Leavitt realized that the protagonists of those novels had all become homeless for different reasons: abuse, poverty, and addiction. Since another major cause of homelessness is mental illness, she decided that she should eventually write about that topic as well. Subsequently, while rereading a Calvin and Hobbes compilation, she realized that "nowadays, Calvin would probably be diagnosed as schizophrenic", and conceived the notion of "Calvin, having schizophrenia, feel[ing] that he's been given this illness by Bill Watterson, his creator" and asking Watterson to cure him; since a pilgrimage to find Bill Watterson did not in itself seem particularly interesting, Leavitt integrated elements from the story of Dave Voelker, who walked across the ice of Lake Erie in winter.[6]
Referencesedit
^Godfrey, Laura (October 27, 2016). "News from the North: October 2016". Publishers Weekly. from the original on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
^Calvin, reviewed at Publishers Weekly; published August 31, 2015; retrieved December 8, 2023
^Calvin, at Kirkus Reviews; published July 26, 2015; retrieved December 8, 2023
^* Calvin by Martine Leavitt, reviewed at Quill and Quire, by Eisha Marjara; published December 22, 2015; retrieved December 8, 2023
^How Martine Leavitt took a beloved comic strip and ended up with a YA novel, by Jennifer Warren, at CBC.ca; published March 29, 2017; retrieved December 8, 2023
March 15, 2024
calvin, novel, calvin, 2015, young, adult, novel, martine, leavitt, published, groundwood, books, contents, synopsis, reception, origin, referencessynopsis, editcalvin, born, december, 1995, that, last, calvin, hobbes, strip, published, child, played, with, st. Calvin is a 2015 young adult novel by Martine Leavitt It was published by Groundwood Books Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Reception 3 Origin 4 ReferencesSynopsis editCalvin was born on December 31 1995 the day that the last Calvin and Hobbes strip was published As a child he played with a stuffed tiger named Hobbes and his best friend was named Susie Eventually the stuffed tiger fell apart and Susie made other friends When Calvin is 17 he is diagnosed with schizophrenia Constantly hearing Hobbes voice in his head he concludes that his only hope is for Bill Watterson to draw one last strip of Calvin as a healthy 17 year old and thus accompanied by Susie he sets out to walk across the ice of Lake Erie in an attempt to reach Watterson s Cleveland home Reception editCalvin won the 2016 Governor General s Award for English language children s literature 1 Publishers Weekly called it f unny intellectual and entertaining and a sensitive yet irreverent adventure about a serious subject and noted the possibility that Susie s participation in Calvin s quest may be another hallucination 2 Kirkus Reviews lauded it as outstanding and far more than the sum of its parts 3 At Quill and Quire Eisha Marjara described the novel as highly polished with virtually flawless writing and a plot that could have been hokey but is anything but and compared Leavitt s dialogue to that of David Mamet 4 The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books found it to have a barely credible premise and to be schizophrenia lite and more a treatise on philosophy than psychology but nonetheless praised its well paced dialogue and emphasized its clever sheen on the extreme questions of teenage angst including how do we know the difference between what we imagine and what is real how should friendships and romantic relationships work and how should we grieve the loss of childhood 5 Origin editAfter having written three novels about homelessness Martine Leavitt realized that the protagonists of those novels had all become homeless for different reasons abuse poverty and addiction Since another major cause of homelessness is mental illness she decided that she should eventually write about that topic as well Subsequently while rereading a Calvin and Hobbes compilation she realized that nowadays Calvin would probably be diagnosed as schizophrenic and conceived the notion of Calvin having schizophrenia feel ing that he s been given this illness by Bill Watterson his creator and asking Watterson to cure him since a pilgrimage to find Bill Watterson did not in itself seem particularly interesting Leavitt integrated elements from the story of Dave Voelker who walked across the ice of Lake Erie in winter 6 References edit Godfrey Laura October 27 2016 News from the North October 2016 Publishers Weekly Archived from the original on 2022 10 13 Retrieved 2022 10 13 Calvin reviewed at Publishers Weekly published August 31 2015 retrieved December 8 2023 Calvin at Kirkus Reviews published July 26 2015 retrieved December 8 2023 Calvin by Martine Leavitt reviewed at Quill and Quire by Eisha Marjara published December 22 2015 retrieved December 8 2023 Calvin by Martine Leavitt review by Karen Coats in The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books vol 69 no 4 p 207 published December 2015 by Johns Hopkins University Press doi 10 1353 bcc 2015 0935 How Martine Leavitt took a beloved comic strip and ended up with a YA novel by Jennifer Warren at CBC ca published March 29 2017 retrieved December 8 2023 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Calvin novel amp oldid 1192546282, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
