Synopses & Reviews
Pedro Zamora changed lives.When the HIV-positive AIDS educator appeared on MTVs
The Real World: San Francisco, he taught millions of viewers about being gay and living with AIDS. Pedros roommate on the show was Judd Winick, who created
Pedro and Me to honor Pedro Zamora, his friend and teacher and an unforgettable human being. First published in 2000,
Pedro and Me was a graphic novel pioneer. Its moving portrait of friendship and its urgent message have already reached thousands of people. Now, Pedros story is reintroduced to todays graphically focused culture with a gorgeous, eye-catching new cover and a foreword from Judd.
Judd Winick has been cartooning professionally since age 16. He illustrated the
Complete Idiot's Guide series, and wrote and illustrated the series
Road Trip, which was nominated for an Eisner Award (comics' highest honor). Winick lives in San Francisco.
An Eisner Award NomineeA YALSA Notable Graphic NovelA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the YearPedro Zamora changed lives. When the HIV-positive AIDS educator appeared on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco, he taught millions of viewers the realities of being gay and living with AIDS. Pedro's roommate on the show was Judd Winick, a cartoonist from Long Island. They soon became close friends. Judd created Pedro and Me, a book in words and pictures, to honor Pedro Zamora, who was his friend, teacher, andmost of allan unforgettable human being. "In this powerful and captivating graphic novel, Winick, a professional cartoonist and cast member of MTV's The Real World 3: San Francisco, pays tribute to his Real World housemate and friend Pedro Zamora, an AIDS activist and educator who died of the disease in 1994. Striking just the right balance of cool and forthrightness sure to attract a broad cross section of teens, twenty-somethings and beyond, Winick describes the special bond he developed with Zamora and shares some of his own journey to enlightenment about AIDS awareness. From Winick's initial preconceptions about the disease to the ultimate moments of heartbreaking loss, the author bravely invites readers into a life-altering experience. The result is never mawkish: Winick speaks of his friend not with otherworldly awe, but with palpable love and warmth and profound admiration . . . Winick imbues deceptively simple black-and-white comic-strip art with a full spectrum of emotion, and his approach is particularly adept at conveying Zamora's mind-set . . . Throughout, Winick depicts Zamora as a vital force, a tireless teacher using frank language to relate facts about how people contract the virus that causes AIDS, how they can prevent it and how they can live with it. An innovative and accessible approach to a difficult subject."Publishers Weekly "Pedro and Me should be made compulsory reading. It's moving, honest, funny, and romantic."Neil Gaiman
"Pedro and Me is as lovely and resonant a tribute as one friend could possibly pay another. Winick takes us beyond all those tilty camera angles into the realest world of all: the hearts and minds of the people who actually lived this wrenching but triumphant story. I was utterly captivated."Armistead Maupin, author of Tales of the City
"A narrative of dignity and extraordinary accessibility . . . Zamora would be proud."Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"This unique book presents the powerful relationship between the author and Pedro Zamora, the HIV-positive, AIDS educator who appeared on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. The two men were roommates on the show. Not only did Pedro teach Judd about courage and friendship, but he also taught millions of television viewers about being gay and living with AIDS. This special book pays a lovely, genuine tribute to an inspiring young man whose efforts to educate young people about the dangers of unsafe sex now continues after his death. Winick is a talented cartoonist and writer, who combines his abilities with a great story in this book."Children's Literature
"Judd Winick's graphic book about his friendship with Pedro Zamora is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. It is the story of two men who meet and develop a close friendship during the filming of one of MTV's Real World series . . . He was only 22 when he died and yet, as Winick's book shows, his life touched thousands of people. Diagnosed while in high school, Pedro decided to give meaning and direction to his life by educating others about the disease and how to prevent it. Starting with his own classmates, he set out to save others from his fate. Along the way, seeing that television would increase the audience that he could reach, Pedro agreed to appear on Real World. He and Winick met when they were designated roommates. Winick is honest in his self-portrait as a liberal who was afraid of rooming with someone with AIDS. He chided himself about his fears, seeing in them hypocrisy. But Pedro, by weeding out the facts from the misconceptions about the disease, allayed Winick's concerns. Winick's book is straightforward in its depiction of what HIV and AIDS can do to its victims. His transcription of one of Pedro's talks provides the reader with a lesson on how to prevent AIDS and makes this book a useful resource for teaching students about the disease. Its simple language and illustrations also makes this an ideal choice for reluctant readers. It is a sad story, beautifully written in clear and concise language."Debra Mitts Smith, YA Librarian, Glenview Public Library, Glenview, Illinois, KLIATT
"The format . . . is enticing, with images that are effusive and alive . . . Engrossing, wise, and impossibly brave."Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Winick, part of the 1993 television cast of MTV's Real World: San Francisco, uses his cartoonist skills to take readers back to the house where the show was set and tell the story of his fellow cast mate Pedro Zamora, an AIDS educator who died in 1994 from complications related to HIV. Part lesson about AIDS, part biographical sketch, this book differs from the many graphic novels that rely on action drawings or high-octane plotting. It's facial expressions that count most here, and they are Winick's forté as he briefly recalls how he came to the show, his evolving friendship with Zamora, whose background he describes, and his growing understanding of AIDS, which broadened the boundaries of his world . . . Most memorable is Winick's heartfelt description of Zamora's final days (he died at the age of 22), which are described with great tenderness and a keen sense of the loss of a friend."Stephanie Zvirin, Booklist
"In graphic-novel format, Winick addresses the moral depth of friendship, the molding processes of family, the attention required to discern and pursue a vocation, HIV education, acceptance of gay-identifying youth by themselves and by their families, and the role of death in the human life cycle. The author does a stellar job of marrying image to word to form a flowing narrative. He introduces readers to his own formation as a cartoonist wanna-be, and how he landed a role in MTV's The Real World series in order to live rent-free in San Francisco for six months. Among his television producer-selected roommates was Pedro Zamora, a Cuban immigrant who developed HIV as a teenager. Pedro's response to his
Review
". . . Winick pays tribute to his Real World housemate and friend Pedro Zamora, an AIDS activist who died of the disease . . ." --A
Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
"The format . . . is enticing, with images that are effusive and alive . . . Engrossing, wise, and impossibly brave." --Kirkus, starred review
"This is an important book for teens and the adults who care about them." --School Library Journal, starred review
Review
"Captivating and informative."—Skipping Stones Magazine
Review
"While most graphic novels exist simply to entertain, this one both entertains and informs the audience in an intellectual manner, which is a nice change of pace."—Cory Troske, Bid Muddy
Synopsis
Pedro and Me, now with a new foreword, is a ground-breaking, inspiring graphic novel from Judd Winick, first published in 2000.
Pedro Zamora changed lives. When the HIV-positive AIDS educator appeared on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco, he taught millions of viewers about being gay and living with AIDS. Pedro's roommate on the show was Judd Winick, who created Pedro and Me to honor Pedro Zamora, his friend and teacher and an unforgettable human being.
Its moving portrait of friendship and its urgent message have already reached thousands of people. Now, Pedro's story is reintroduced to today's graphically focused culture with a gorgeous, eye-catching new cover and a foreword from Judd.
Synopsis
Pedro Zamora changed lives.When the HIV-positive AIDS educator appeared on MTVs The Real World: San Francisco, he taught millions of viewers about being gay and living with AIDS. Pedros roommate on the show was Judd Winick, who created Pedro and Me to honor Pedro Zamora, his friend and teacher and an unforgettable human being. First published in 2000, Pedro and Me was a graphic novel pioneer. Its moving portrait of friendship and its urgent message have already reached thousands of people. Now, Pedros story is reintroduced to todays graphically focused culture with a gorgeous, eye-catching new cover and a foreword from Judd.
Synopsis
We live in a world of viruses, biological entities to be confronted not by superheroes in capes but by scientists and informed citizens during their everyday lives. From the bustle of the airport to the wide expanse of the ocean to the remote tundra of the Arctic, viruses infect many different fronts in fascinatingly unique ways.
World of Viruses is a graphic novel that contains the thrilling true stories of well-known threats like foot and mouth disease, HIV, the flu, and HPV, as well as the lesser-known but helpful role that viruses play in saving global ecosystems from out-of-control blooms of algae. The talented artists and writers included in this spectacular graphic novel feature the heroics and adventures of viruses and scientists, as they challenge each other for survival on planet Earth.
About the Author
Judy Diamond is a professor and curator of informal science education at the University of Nebraska State Museum and the coauthor of Kea, Bird of Paradox: The Evolution and Behavior of a New Zealand Parrot. Tom Floyd is a multimedia graphics designer at Nebraska Educational Telecommunications and the author and illustrator of Captain Spectre. Martin Powell is the author of many graphic novels, including Rumpelstiltskin and The Avenger Chronicles. Angie Fox is a scientific illustrator with the University of Nebraska State Museum. Ann Downer-Hazell is the author of eight books for young readers, most recently Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication. Charles Wood is the Lewis Lehr/3M University Professor and director of the Nebraska Center for Virology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.