Tin Man - by Justin Madson

About the Book

"In Justin Madson's debut graphic novel, Tin Man, a girl and her brother befriend the titular Tin Man with unexpected results. Solar is in her last year of high school and is reeling from the recent death of her grandmother. She has abandoned her plans for the future and fallen in with a bad crowd. Her little brother, Fenn, doesn't understand why she's changed--she doesn't even want to help him build their rocket in the garage anymore. Campbell is a tin woodsman--a clunky metal man whose sole purpose in life is to chop down trees. He longs for more, however, and decides to seek out a heart, believing that, with one, he will be able to feel things he has never felt before and, therefore, change his life."--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

A debut YA graphic novel about unlikely friends, Justin Madson's Tin Man is the story of the title character seeking a heart and a high schooler trying to come to terms with the death of her grandmother.

Solar is in her last year of high school and is reeling from the recent death of her grandmother. She has abandoned her plans for the future and fallen in with a bad crowd. Her little brother, Fenn, doesn't understand why she's changed--she doesn't even want to help him build their rocket in the garage anymore.

Campbell is a tin woodsman--a clunky metal man whose sole purpose in life is to chop down trees. He longs for more, however, and decides to seek out a heart, believing that, with one, he will be able to feel things he has never felt before and, therefore, change his life.

Equal parts The Iron Giant, The Wizard of Oz, Edward Scissorhands, and Freaks and Geeks, Tin Man is a story about finding friendship in the unlikeliest of places.

"Creatively explores growing up, loneliness, and loss . . . The bright, angular illustrations emphasize the isolation and yearning felt by the three protagonists as they weather small-town life." --Horn Book

Review Quotes

"Madson's art is consistent, and his characters are especially relatable."​--School Library Journal

"There's plenty of heart, and not just the mechanical kind, in this spare, sensitive friendship tale." --Kirkus Reviews

"This Wonderful Wizard of Oz-inspired graphic novel creatively explores growing up, loneliness, and loss. . .The bright, angular illustrations emphasize the isolation and yearning felt by the three protagonists as they weather small-town life." --The Horn Book Magazine

About the Author

Justin Madson is a self-taught cartoonist who has been telling stories through comic books and graphic novels for nearly two decades. Over the years he has created a number of graphic novels, including the post-apocalyptic tale Breathers and Carbon, a supernatural mystery. He resides in a small town in Wisconsin with his wife, two kids, two dogs, and a slew of backyard chickens.