About this item
"An exceptionally beautiful book about loneliness, labor, and survival." -- Carmen Maria MachadoBefore there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beaton, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush -- part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.Beaton's natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest.
About the Author
Kate Beaton is a Canadian cartoonist who appeared in the comics scene in 2007 with her online work Hark! A Vagrant! Since then, she has become a fan favourite and has garnered a significant following, with illustrations appearing in places like the New Yorker, Harper's, and Marvel's Strange Tales anthology. Her first book with D Q, Hark! A Vagrant, spent five months on the New York Times bestseller list, and topped best of the year lists from Time, E!, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly. Beaton's cartoons often display a wonderfully light touch on historical and literary topics. The jokes are a knowing look at history through a very modern perspective, and a campaign against anyone with the idea that history is boring.
The Princess and the Pony, Kate's first picture book came out with Scholastic in July 2015 to starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, and many others. In September 2015, her second comic collection Step Aside, Pops, will be released through Drawn and Quarterly.
Kate Beaton lives in Toronto, Canada.
