JULIE CHIBBARO
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Bites
A glimpse into Prudence's world |
My Resources section also has more in-depth info about the subjects of Deadly
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW:
"Paced like a medical thriller, “Deadly” is the rare Y.A. novel in which a girl’s intellectual interests trump adolescent romance. A 16-year-old Jewish tenement dweller in 1906 New York pines away days at a finishing school on scholarship and nights helping midwife young mothers. When she quits school to assist the Department of Health and Sanitation in its pursuit of “Typhoid Mary,” she is awakened to nascent opportunities for women in science." KIRKUS REVIEW: "Fever 1793 (Laurie Halse Anderson, 2000) meets Newes from the Dead (Mary Hooper, 2008) in this absorbing diary of a fictional teen who witnesses the epidemic unleashed on turn-of-the-20th-century New York by the infamous “Typhoid Mary.” Sixteen-year-old science-minded Prudence gets the chance to use her deductive talents when she is hired as an assistant in the Department of Health and Sanitation. There, she helps her “chief” investigate outbreaks of typhoid. When one case leads them to suspect Mary Mallon, an Irish cook, of being a healthy carrier who is unknowingly spreading the disease, Prudence is torn between her medical rationality and her compassion for the woman’s untenable situation. She must also deal with a male co-worker’s unwelcome attention and unresolved feelings of abandonment since her father was declared missing in the Spanish American War. Rich period details about the study of medicine and the role of women in society combine with Prudence’s girlish crush on her chief and her earnest desire to “do something astonishing with my life” to make this a title that will appeal to reluctant readers and historical fiction fans alike." Ten facts about Typhoid Mary most people don’t know:
1. Her real name was Mary Mallon. She was the first known “healthy carrier” of disease. 2. She worked as a cook for wealthy New York families. 3. She worked for eight families between 1900-1907. She infected seven of those families, causing 22 people to become ill, killing one. 4. Mary passed the typhoid fever through her hands. Typhoid is carried in the feces. You get the picture. 5. She was first quarantined on an island called North Brother Island near Queens, NY from 1907-1909. 6. Released in 1909, told to never cook publicly again, she was recaptured in 1915 after 25 people became ill at Sloane Maternity Hospital in NYC. Two people died. 7. She was quarantined again to North Brother Island, where she spent the rest of her life, 1915-1938 – 23 years. 8. The island where she lived contained a quarantine hospital with mostly tubercular women. 9. Mary often baked breads and cookies for these contagious women. She never infected any of them. 10. Mary Mallon never believed she carried the typhoid fever. (Facts gleaned from Judith Waltzer Leavitt’s book, Typhoid Mary, Beacon Books, 1996) 
1. Tell us about your background as an artist. How did you decide to become an illustrator? I was never any good at sports. Drawing and art classes were a good way of getting out of that. There was a contest when I was in high school in Canada, to make a "bottle run," a kind of rollercoaster made of snow and ice to send a bottle down a hill (a very Canadian thing to do, I guess.) Some guys were so incredibly crafty, carving out these wild loops and whatnot, and they just made it up as they went along. There were no rules; you just had to make the thing work. I remember being amazed at how we had been given the license to build this beautiful crazy thing with apparently no real purpose. After that, being an artist seemed like a good excuse to be interested in just about anything, without having to commit to any prescribed rules of being a "professional.” I see doing illustrations as a just another way of being able to do that. Plus, I like to collaborate with other artists; it's amazing how much more brainstorming two synched heads can do together. 2. What were some of the challenges of working on Deadly? Highs and lows? Drawing like a 16-year old girl in 1906 was a challenge, to say the least. I had to forget how to draw in order to learn how to draw like the character, Prudence Galewski. I went through a very classical, academic type of training for drawing (life figure drawing, that sort of thing), so letting go of that was hard for me. It became easier as I practiced her handwriting, which, in of itself, was a fun, sensuous thing to do. Once I was started learning to write with this very Victorian, very proper penmanship, suddenly, it felt more like channeling than drawing. 3. This is a historical book. Did you have to do a lot of research for historical accuracy? Oh, yes, and how! I had a great time flipping through 19th century anatomical illustrations, books on the history of natural history, old New York City photographs and postcards, stuff like that. The web is also really good for that kind of research; it’s amazing how much archived material there is online, and with Google image search. But it makes it hard to stay in an early 20th Century mindset while you're browsing on your laptop. 4. Where does your inspiration to make art come from? I'm not sure exactly where it comes from, which is probably a good thing. That way, it's always a surprise. But I’m always looking to get involved in something that’s a bit like learning a new language; you get to completely transform the way your mind and your mouth works for a while. I also like history; I like finding evidence of things and people from a time that I don't share. This usually leads me to sneaking into abandoned buildings, a lot of dumpster-diving and some eavesdropping. 5. What are the pros and cons of being an artist? Pros: doing what you love. Cons: often not getting paid to do what you love. 6. How does your job as an artist influence your life? Do you see things differently? Lately, I’ve been trying to see what kind of tangible impact my art can have on the people and places that surround me. So, I’ve collaborated on public art projects in Beacon, my home town, I’ve given guided tours of housing developments in NYC, and I’m working on a collaborative project in Spain making bricks by hand. In a way, I think art works at its most profound level when nobody seems to be thinking of it as “art.” In an ideal world, being an artist would encompass my entire life, would be part of everything I do, but it's hard. I haven't really reached that point yet. Do you have any tips for aspiring artists? Just like in any relationship, you have to build a sense of trust with yourself, your instincts, your intuition. If you spend too much time trying to figure out what’s the right thing to do, you might never get it done. Always try to follow the words of the Greek goddess Nike: Just do it. |
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