The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story

by Silvia Vecchini, Sualzo

An Italian town deals with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake

Matteo, Guilia, and Federico have ordinary lives: they spend time with friends, help out their families, go to school, and deal with the many mood swings that come with growing up. Then, in a single night, everything changes. The ground shakes. An earthquake devastates their town and their security. But after everything is gone, life must go on. Anger and fear affect everyone in the community, but each of them must find a way to begin again. In the aftermath, the roots for stronger friendships can be laid amid the rubble. This graphic novel provides a look at how natural disaster can strike and forever change a community.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Comics, Contemporary, Survival

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2017

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel addresses the issues an earthquake has on young children. Torn from their homes, these children have to deal with the issues of the unknown as their community tries to rebuild.

I liked how the novel immediately begins with some powerful action. Mother Nature begins unleashing her power upon the community, leaving its citizens left to fend for themselves. We follow Matteo, Giulia, and Federico as they learn to live with the aftermath of the destruction.

The devastation from the quake is massive. The citizens are warned not to enter the “Red Zone” but to some that zone is their life and contains everything they have. How can you tell someone to stay away from the only possessions they have?

A make-shift school is immediately constructed while the community tries to rebuild. Why is it taking so long to move forward? What are they supposed to do in the meantime? Each family tries to rebuild their lives and get some structure into their lives, to the best of their ability, but it’s hard when all your possessions are in the “Red Zone.”

I really liked the idea of this graphic novel and I thought, the illustrations were fantastic. We are experiencing more weather-related catastrophes lately and having children understand them is important. The illustrations were bright, colorful and had a great flow. I liked everything about this novel but I thought it was missing a few things. I really had no connections to the characters as I had no background on them. I wished I had known something about them and/or their relationships with other individuals in the novel, so I knew exactly the emotional toll this disaster played on their lives. I know that any tragedy is hard but I felt that my character and emotional connection was not fully engaged while reading this novel. I think this is a good novel to share with children, it’s a good starting point.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An earthquake, and the aftermath that continues. It was well written and beautifully drawn. My heart broke for the people who lost their homes, or of whom their homes were too badly damaged to live in. But also for those who lost someone. We also see a group of teens try to help out their friend who lost their dog, that part I was just crying because I had a very good idea on what happened to the little guy.
I would have loved to see more reconstruction starting on the buildings, as by the end of the book most people still didn't have a home and the buildings were still unsafe or broken. That would have given a bit more hope to the story.
I did love seeing a community come together to help each other out. Doing classes in tents, given clothes and shoes to those who need it, etc.
All in all, recommended.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This book had a great message about how sudden disasters can change people's lives. This story looks at three children and how their families are effected by a large earthquake in Italy. I really loved the story and the artwork. This is a shorter graphic novel but I still feel that the impact that it makes to the reader is tremendous. I really liked this graphic novel and I think it would be a great read for teens and young adults.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novelization of the earthquake that occurred in Italy in 2016. Thought it was good, however, the transitions were a bit sharp and sometimes I had a hard time telling the stories apart of following whose story we were addressing.

[Ollie]

stunning, moving, heartwarming. this book will bring tears to your eyes.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

i picked up an advanced reader which is only black and white, color might make it better. Passing this on to a school teacher for her classroom, can see it being suggested to kids in the Bay Area that have yet to go through a Big One to have in the back of their minds.

[Stephanie Flint · Rating 3 out of 5]

I located this book using the Database of Award-Winning Children’s Literature (DAWCL.com). This book received the 2018 Attilio Micheluzzi Award in Italy. This award is given annually to Italian comics.

This graphic novel is translated from the Italian comic in response to the 2016 earthquakes in Italy. This story follows a teenage boy named Matteo as he struggles to adjust to a new reality after an earthquake leaves his village in ruins. Matteo and his friends Guillia and Frederico work together to help rebuild their community and find a way to begin again. This story provides a look at how natural disasters can strike and forever change a community.

I read this graphic novel in traditional format from my local library. This graphic novel methodically shows the reader what specific characters were doing during in the Earthquake visualized by motion lines versus having the characters announce where they were during the quake. The illustrator, Claudia Guiliani, uses beautiful colors that add to the emotional impact of the story. She often uses black as a background color to demonstrate the extreme darkness, which helps compound the feelings of loneliness and isolation. These simple drawings in conjunction with the fine details of emotion bring the story together to truly impact the reader.

This book is ideal for upper elementary and middle school students due to the levels of vocabulary and depth of trauma these children experience throughout the story. This story would be ideal to accompany a unit on earthquakes or other natural disasters to help students better understand and connect with what others may experience. This story would also be beneficial when teaching themes of friendships and/or community support.

[FSSTBlog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authors: Silvia Vecchini and Sualzo
Year: 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3368-0
Publisher: Amulet Books
Goodreads Rating: 3/5 stars
Content Warnings: Natural Disasters, animal death
Purchased or Received Copy: Received free copy from Netgalley

In a small Italian town, Giulia, Matteo, and Frederico live as three normal children. One night, an enormous earthquake strikes. Their homes collapse, along with most of the town. In the aftermath of the disaster, the community must heal as life keeps moving forward.

Matteo’s father takes their trailer out of storage, and he lives in a small community of people living apart from the rows of tents that the rest of the town moved into. Frederico searches the dangerous “red zone” for his missing dog. Giulia, Matteo’s girlfriend, supports her friends and tries to find a silver lining in their situation.

The Red Zone tells the story of tragedy and healing. As time goes on, the people slowly adjust to their new reality. The children go to a makeshift tent school and continue their education. Frustrated with the Italian government’s lack of action, everybody who can helps rebuild. In the midst of this tragedy, a community comes together to heal together.

While the story is heartwarming and sweet, it’s not without issues. My biggest issue is that the characters seem kind of flat. We don’t know much about their lives before the earthquake, so we have no idea what they lost. The perspective switches pretty often, so we don’t get much time to just sit in the moment. And I’m not entirely sure what Giulia’s arc was supposed to be. Frederico has a clear goal, to find his missing dog. Matteo is trying to keep his family together and support his little sister I guess. It’s difficult to follow the characters’ arcs in what could be a really powerful, human story.

Speaking of hard to follow, I have a bit of a complaint about the art style. It’s hard to tell some of the characters apart, so that made it even harder to follow character arcs. The most frustrating example was the similarity between Matteo and Frederico. Their designs were so similar that I found myself re-reading a page multiple times because I got confused as to who I was looking at.

Still, despite its flaws, The Red Zone was an emotional and heartfelt story. I still had fun reading it and I think it’s worth a look if it sounds interesting to you. It had a lot of potential but ultimately I don’t think I’m going to pick it up again.

[JohnnyBear · Rating 1 out of 5]

2 out of 10

I like how it starts out with an earthquake, and how it shows everyday people doing everyday things as it happens.

BUT that's about all I liked about this book.

Obviously, it's important to talk about subject matter like this, but upon just showing how people dealt with this disaster, it didn't do much else of value. The characters were boring and the plot dragged on and barely did anything. I wasn't a huge fan of the art style either.

It feels underdeveloped and the characters are just so uninteresting. It's not a terrible book, by all means, but I think it could do with some revamping and rearranging.

[Elna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is fine, the story is fine, but the translation is clunky and the story a little underdeveloped.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspired by the earthquakes that hit Italy in 2016, and set entirely in the aftermath. This is not so much about the immediate devastation of a disaster as it is about the ongoing sense of loss. The characters are stuck, waiting for something to happen, staying just outside the ruins of their former lives. It's a hard thing to communicate to kids, and I think Vecchini did a good job of that. But although I understand the choice to set the book entirely after the earthquake, it meant that I didn't really have a connection to these characters. I don't really know what they've lost, or how their lives have changed, with one exception. And this is the only warning that I think I need to give about the book: there's a dog in jeopardy, and I know that's a dealbreaker for a lot of people. The parts about the dog were the only time I really felt an emotional connection to this book. Still, I think it's valuable for what it sets out to do, to help kids understand what it's like to live in the wake of a life-changing event.

[Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspired by the events of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit central Italy in August of 2016, Red Zone tells the story of a small Italian town and it's residents following a similar natural disaster. However, rather than focusing on the disaster itself, the book is set within the aftermath, and is seen through the eyes of the children of the town rather than the adults.

The book begins with the town being hit with an earthquake, dropping the readers straight into events. Soon after we're introduced to our core cast of characters, Matteo, Giulia, and Frederico. All of them have either lost their homes in the disaster, or find their homes inside the dangerous red one; meaning that they're unable to return.

A makeshift school is set up inside a tent, whilst those who can't leave the area have to move into a small tend village or caravans whilst the community tries to rebuild the town. Unfortunately, there's a lot of damage, not much money, and winter is fast approaching. As the weeks pass and things get colder the children find things harder as they see little to hope for, especially Frederico, who hasn't been the same since he lost his dog during the quake. However, the children learn to come together and form strong bonds of friendship to help them through.

Whilst there's a lot to like in the book, especially the relationships that form between the characters, I often felt like the book was lacking somewhat in depth, and we only get a cursory understanding of each of them. I hoped to have been able to get to know them better, to understand more of what the earthquake did to them and how it changed their outlook, but the book is sadly too short for this. It's a shame as I'd have happily have read a book that was twice as long if it meant that got a better understanding of the characters.

That being said, there are moments that work surprisingly well despite not knowing the children all that well; with one particular scene being quite moving. There a times where we get insights into the way that the aftermath of the earthquake has affected their personalities and left them deeply troubled. There are moments when we get hints of the post traumatic stress they're having to live with, and these are by far the best moments of the book.

The artwork works really well for the story too, and it's a very crisp and clean looking book, with a lot of care and attention given over to the details; especially in the ruins of the town following the earthquake. The scenes where the winter snow comes are particularly good, and these panels in particular are some of the best in the book.

Overall I really enjoyed Red Zone, but was hoping for a lot more from it. However, if you're looking for a nice quick read, or a book that's going to be found enjoyable for younger readers it's definitely one worth giving a look.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a fictionalized account of the earthquake that hit central Italy in 2016. It tells the story of 3 friends and how they were each affected by the quake in different ways, as well as how the town overall was affected. The red zone refers to the epicenter and is a restricted area where no one is allowed to go. However, one of the boys was away from home when the quake occurred but his dog was still there, so he is desperate to get into the red zone to go to his house to try to find his dog.

Since Seattle is a place where earthquakes are a real concern, I can see some of my students being drawn to this title. The graphics are clear and engaging. There is a bit of a *message* in the text about not judging people and community coming together - but that may not be a bad thing. =)
It won't fly off the shelves, but a good book talk will get it in the right hands. Could also work well with social studies/geography units.

[Deanna Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

2019
Realistic graphic novel, natural disaster (earthquake in Italy)

I particularly liked how three friends help each other after an earthquake in their community (find family dog or remains from their homes) etc. Plus, the cartoon illustrations color tones (earth colors) that depict an earthquake. Plus, the teacher in the tent community used art (broken pottery) to help the children heal from this trauma.

[Ilaria . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meravigliosa graphic novel.
Silvia Vecchini ha il dono di regalare libri originali, che arricchiscono, toccando tematiche attuali che fanno riflettere.
"Ognuno di noi ha le sue cicatrici. Alcune sulla pelle, altre un po' più nascoste. Dentro.
Non possiamo cancellarle come il vaso rotto non torna intero.
Però possiamo dare valore alle nostre storie.
Perché sono preziose, come il vaso del ricco aristocratico"

[Beky · Rating 3 out of 5]

In realtà io avrei voluto mettere tre stelle e mezza ma purtroppo non ho potuto.
Non gli do quattro stelle perché ha molte immagini e poche scritte essendo io un'amante dei libri con tante scritte. Comunque è un libro che merita di essere letto e molto emozionante e affronta il dramma del terremoto.

[sascha · Rating 3 out of 5]

i spontaneously picked up this book, and i thought it was really nice. i usually don’t read graphic novels, but i really liked the art style. the story is really beautiful. i think it’s definitely something kids who go through this will find really helpful, just as the author wanted it to. 3 stars for me

[Smote · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important story that needs to be told - especially with disasters happening more and more frequently across the globe. People underestimate how it will affect survivors and especially the impact on kids. This is a beautifully told story with a message of resilience and hope

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a realistic look at how massive earthquakes change the lives of some young children. This books shows the emotional and physical effects of losing your home and possessions. I enjoyed the art and how the book dealt with their fears in positive ways.

[Dolores · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at life in the aftermath of an earthquake. The pacing is a bit choppy-jumping around from scene to scene with no transitions. But it showcases the various emotions the survivors experience as they try to find some sense of normal in the midst of chaos.

[Mical · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Préstamo biblioteca*

Buena representación de lo que ocurre con las personas cuando suceden desastres naturales, más en concreto, un terreno de gran magnitud. Una novela gráfica juvenil que se lee bastante rápido lo que puede hacer que los más jóvenes se mantengan atraídos en la lectura.

[Marge Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this at Book Expo 2019 and really appreciated the perspective. I can’t wait to see it in full color.

[Andréa]

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher at ALA Annual 2019.

[MusokaSakebi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deve essere letto. Mentre lo leggi senti proprio la paura della fine...

[Andee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this at SDCC, very interested as ws live in an earthquake zone. Cute little graphic novel that covers fears, worries, and rebuilding after experiencing a disaster.

[D.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one because of the subject matter.

3.5

[J.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel for young readers. Pretty good. I would have like a little more to it, but then it couldn't be for young readers.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have used more character development. Felt a bit like a therapy book, rather than something a kid would read for entertainment

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The aftermath of a devastating earthquake in an Italian town. Originally published in Italy.

[Harriet Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short graphic novel depicting how children deal with an earthquake's devastation and how they learn to deal with the impacts.