Kyo Maclear and Byron Eggenschwiler (@byronegg) share OPERATIC, a graphic novel they made together. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that, as with making picture books, Kyo wrote OPERATIC’s story in words and dialogue and left space for Byron to tell the story through paneled illustrations. The story in OPERATIC centers on a girl named Charlie and her teacher’s assignment to identify a song to include in the “soundtrack of our lives”. Emile, Charlie’s classmate and, consequently, Charlie’s crush, is also searching, but not for a song. Luka has been missing from school, and no one’s quite sure why, but not many are searching on his account. And then there’s Maria Callas, renowned opera singer, who has her own story to tell. Where Kyo ties narratives together with thread, Byron maps colors to transition in and out of different stories for an effect that I felt showed great care for both the characters and the reader. You can access even more information about this book and its author and illustrator by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/podcast.
