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Children’s Bookwatch vol. 00 no. 00 Dec., 2023. review of The Bodyguard Unit. p. NA.
Kirkus Reviews June 15, 2023, , “Xavier, Clement: THE BODYGUARD UNIT.”. p. NA.
The Horn Book Magazine vol. 99 no. 5 Sept.-Oct., 2023. Gall, Elisa. , “The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women’s Suffrage, and Jujitsu.”.
Clement Xavier is a writer based in France. In 2015, Xavier and illustrator Lisa Lugrin jointly received the prestigious Prix Révélation (Debut Prize) at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for their first French-language graphic novel, Yékini, le roi des arènes.
The Bodyguard Unit
Clement Xavier, author
Lisa Lugrin, illustrator
Graphic Universe
c/o The Lerner Publishing Group
www.lernerbooks.com
9781728445656, $29.92, Library Binding, 136pp
https://www.amazon.com/Bodyguard-Unit-Garrud-Suffrage-Jujitsu/dp/1728445655
Synopsis: In the early twentieth century, women in England demanded the right to vote--and in doing so faced violent retaliation. Rather than back down, the suffragist group Women's Social and Political Union formed its own security unit. Edith Garrud, a pioneering self-defense instructor, trained them to fight back against abuse and arrest while pursuing long-overdue rights.
"The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu" by author Clement Xavier and illustrator Lisa Lugrin is a graphic novel that tells the story of Garrud's life and reveals the resilience and (often physical) resistance of her era's voting-rights activists.
Featuring an introduction from Elsa Dorlin (Self-Defense: A Philosophy of Violence), The Bodyguard Unit explores an explosive stage of the fight for suffrage.
Critique: Strongly recommended, especially for middle school, highschool, and community library Graphic Novel Story collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of teens and young adults ages 13-18 that "The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu" is also readily available in a large format (8.1 x 0.5 x 10.1 inches) paperback edition and also in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.49).
Editorial Note #1: Clement Xavier is a writer based in France. In 2015, Xavier and illustrator Lisa Lugrin jointly received the prestigious Prix Revelation (Debut Prize) at the Angouleme International Comics Festival for their first French-language graphic novel, Yekini, le roi des arenes.
Editorial Note #2: Lisa Lugrin is a comic book artist and author based in France. In 2015, Lugrin and Clement Xavier jointly received the prestigious Prix Revelation (Debut Prize) at the Angouleme International Comics Festival. She is co-founder of Na editions.
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
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"The Bodyguard Unit." Children's Bookwatch, vol. 00, no. 00, Dec. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A779433208/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=59de3bea. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
Xavier, Clément THE BODYGUARD UNIT Graphic Universe (Teen None) $30.65 8, 1 ISBN: 9781728445656
A graphic nonfiction account of how early 20th-century British suffragettes used jujitsu to literally fight for the vote.
Focusing on Edith Garrud, who co-owned a dojo in London with her husband, William, the book tells the little-known story of how a subset of activist women agitating for women's suffrage were trained in jujitsu. They used martial arts to cope with the violence and police brutality they encountered while peacefully marching and assembling. Garrud taught self-defense to the Bodyguard unit, a group affiliated with Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union. The colorful panels illustrating the action are dynamic and engaging, expressing energy, speed, and noise. Compelling historical illustrations and photographs are interspersed. The dialogue, which imparts background context, is mostly snappy but occasionally too obviously didactic. The book chronicles the several years leading up to the dramatic 1914 Battle of Glasgow, when suffragettes fought Scottish police who were trying to arrest Pankhurst. The narrative also offers important detours into the prevalence and general societal acceptance of domestic violence as well as schisms within the suffragette movement regarding the most effective and politically palatable tactics. Scenes between Garrud and her husband provide insights into their marital and work lives. One line confusingly implies that Japan was colonized, and the book disappointingly includes no sources. However, a foreword by scholar Elsa Dorlin and helpful backmatter, including a timeline and historical notes, add useful information.
Engaging feminist history attractively presented. (illustration and photo credits) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Xavier, Clement: THE BODYGUARD UNIT." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A752722899/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9b5c2e77. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu
by Clement Xavier; illus. by Lisa Lugrin; color by Albertine Ralenti; trans. from French by Edward Gauvin
Middle School, High School Graphic Universe/Lerner 136 pp.
8/23 9781728445656 $30.65
Paper ed. 9798765607473 $17.99
This immersive comic introduces readers to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a radical group of real-life early-twentieth-century English feminists led by Emmeline Pankhurst. Needing to mitigate the physical harm faced by members, the militant activists of WSPU coordinated a self-defense and security unit and recruited jujitsu expert Edith Garrud to train them. Garrud's life and perspective ground the absorbing, dialogue-heavy, and fast-paced fictionalized narrative as "jujitsuffragettes" learn, strategize, build solidarity, and engage in aggressive direct action together ("Deeds, not words!"). Embedded primary sources such as political cartoons and black-and-white newspaper images pull the facts and narrative together with striking, powerful clarity. The cartooning, beautifully rendered in muted, old-timey hues, presents information about jujitsu, the inner workings and tensions of the WSPU, and everyday indignities faced by the subjects. Frenetic sound effect and motion lines accentuate setting and mood. While enduring themes such as resisting oppression and asserting autonomy abound, the book remains centered on its specific time, place, and people. Pair with Chambers's Finish the Fight! and Dionne's Lifting as We Climb (both rev. 9/20) for perspectives from suffragists of color and broader coverage of gender justice. Back matter includes a timeline, citations, and additional historical information.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Gall, Elisa. "The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 99, no. 5, Sept.-Oct. 2023, pp. 85+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A763555556/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8b9c88c9. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.