9 of 1: A Window to the World [Paperback]

Oliver Chin (Author), Phoebe Gloeckner (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2003

Set during the confusion following the terrorist attacks of September 11, the story begins when a history teacher asks his students to write a report based on an interview with someone who has a different viewpoint from their own. As they fan out into the community and encounter people of diverse backgrounds, opinions, and prejudices, the teens quickly realize that the story cannot be reduced to simple dichotomies of good versus evil or us versus them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the best 'info-' or 'edu-comix' I’ve read … for readers who are intelligent and interested in looking more deeply at a complicated event and its global repercussions."
—Phoebe Gloeckner, author of The Diary of a Teenage Girl

"[Chin has] done a lot of people a great service by filling in as much as possible with the history of people, places and cultures as you can in this format ... It deserves to be read by everyone."
—The Comic Book Network

From the Inside Flap

Honorable Mention, 2003 Gustavus Myers Award:
This annual award commends works published in a given year which extend our understanding of the root causes of bigotry and the range of options we as humans have in constructing alternative ways to share power. The United States long has been a country with diverse peoples. To our detriment it has more often drawn upon its heritage of conquest than its ideals. The Gustavus Myers Center promotes living out diversity equitably. It encourages and welcomes the increasing range of scholarly and advocacy publications which help us deal equitably with pluralism. It encourages collective action to dismantle structures of domination. Now in its 19th year, we believe fervently that in the struggle is the hope.

A Graphic Novel Not to be Missed!
"The drawings are truly illuminating (in all senses of the word)...Chin, a gifted illustrator and more, teaches us a lot about history and about meanings and moments of recognition for the nine students plus the nine persons interviewed...The self-disclosures as the students present to the class are memorable. Don't overlook this book. Too often adults dismiss graphic novels as a fad, a comic-book simplification. 9 of 1: A Window to the World is far from that. To those who teach and/or facilitate meetings, here's an excellent educational resource, fact and fiction, for the classroom or session."

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"Oliver Chin has created a graphic novel that in an innovative and original way depicts the aftermath and personal reactions to the Sept. 11 tragedies. Some may feel that such a serious subject matter should not be committed to such a frivolous medium as the graphic novel, but Chin rose above the limiting connotations of this style of book and created perhaps one of the most honest works regarding the most shocking event in recent U.S. history."
- Daily Collegian, University of Massachusetts

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"Students who are tired of dry and dense textbook passages - both in the future and in today’s classrooms - should be encouraged to pick up Oliver Chin’s graphic novel "9 of 1: A Window to the World." The 112-page book, written in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, shows some of those different stories in an effort to reconcile the terrible events with a more comprehensive picture of the world that produced them."
- The Daily Free Press, Boston College

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books (July 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583940723
• ISBN-13: 978-1583940723
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,541,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A chastening lesson in true patriotism, April 3, 2004

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 9 of 1: A Window to the World (Paperback)

This book has to be among the bext full length comics I've ever read. It's not only an interesting attempt at activism via comic form, it has that earnest Oxford Group-type mania for completion that still gives one a chill of pleasure. I didn't know what to expect when I started Oliver Chin's book, but as I pursued the story of these wonderful kids, deeper and deeper, I wound up chastened, moved, and considerably enlightened. People here in California who live far away from the World Trade Center should wake up and realize, it could happen here, but perhaps reading more books like Oliver Chin's will prevent it. What he's saying makes sense, and perhaps young people will realize this sooner than their elders.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving Comic Book Easy to Read, June 21, 2004

By 

Tracy Swedlow (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 9 of 1: A Window to the World (Paperback)

This book cleverly tackles difficult subjects (e.g. 9/11, racial diversity, immigrant's fears and hopes, notions of cultural identity, and much more) in a highly original documentary-style that makes reading and absorbing the stories easy. It is so well-written and elegantly drawn that a teenager and an adult will immediately appreciate its contents. Each story is informative, reveals a bit of the human condition, and is often moving. It actively provokes discussion with others about issues and current events, but also gently opens a private window in one's heart to "feel" the suffering and struggle of others who yearn to overcome the challenges of life. If we are to fight oppression, bullies, fear, and terrorism and promote empathy, understanding, wisdom, integrity, and strength of character, this book must become required reading in schools.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick read covering a lot of ground, July 11, 2004

By 

jerseymca "jerseymca" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 9 of 1: A Window to the World (School & Library Binding)

Oliver Chin does what the Boondocks comic strip is now doing: Brings us a series of events from the past that relate to events in the world today. Using the comic form, he presents the stories of people from various backgrounds and how they got to be where they are now. Through this method, he's able to bring in some perhaps forgotten or overlooked history - of the US funding the Taliban, etc. Not a diatribe, the book can be read quickly and shared with others to be used as a starting point for further discussion.