Heart Transplant

School bullying is universally decried, bemoaned, and condemned. And on the rise. Whether it's a teenager committing suicide as a result of a Facebook posting or a group of schoolchildren taunting another child with autism and filming it for the "entertainment" of others, the longest-lasting, deepest-scarring impact of bullying is emotional, not physical. Failure to understand this has handicapped an already-insipid series of failed "solutions." Heart Transplant is aimed at actually changing the way we deal with perhaps the most critical issue for children and parents alike today. To accomplish this mission, an entirely new genre was created. Neither a graphic novel nor a self-help book, it uses elements of both to reach parents and children alike. The intermingling of word and art is achieved so smoothly that it is experienced as one does words-and-music: you may forget the lyrics and hum the tune, but that very act evokes the lyrics. And if it's the lyrics that stick with you, you'll find yourself humming the tune. The anchoring essay (by clinical social worker Zak Mucha) explains in prose detail what the reader has just experienced. This book will be shelved under "Parenting" and "Young Adult." Why? Because there is no "Bullying" section in any bookstore. And if Heart Transplant hits either target, it will hit both. Nothing like this has ever been tried before. But if it works, the high risk will be rewarded by the greatest prize of all.

Andrew Vachss is an attorney whose only clients are children. He's also the author of more than two dozen novels (including the Burke series), a long list of non-fiction pieces, and Another Chance to Get It Right: A Children's Book For Adults. It was in that book that Dark Horse published one of Vachss' first collaborations with Frank Caruso, an award-winning creator and illustrator, and the Art Director for King Features Syndicate. The piece is an example of the "triptych haiku" they developed, a three-panel illustration which has proven unparalleled in its ability to communicate. Their success in that collaboration led them to develop Heart Transplant, a book that attempts the same kind of communication in order to achieve its goal: to reset the cultural software so that people change the way they think about bullying.

Frank Caruso, an award-winning creator, illustrator, and Art Director for King Features Syndicate, has developed a style that speaks to all ages. Together with Andrew Vachss, he created the "triptych haiku," a three-panel illustration which has proven unparalleled in its ability to communicate. Their success in that collaboration led them to develop Heart Transplant, a book that attempts the same kind of communication in order to achieve its goal: to reset the cultural software so that people change the way they think about bullying.

Clinical social worker Zak Mucha offers the anchoring non-fiction essay, explaining in detail what the reader has just experienced.