Oxygen Mask

LoveReading Says

This remarkable collaboration between Carnegie medal winning Jason Reynolds and acclaimed artist Jason Griffin has created both a lasting memorial to what the world endured in the pandemic of 2020 and a testament to the enduring horror of racism and what humans do to each other and the world.

Printed on yellowed lined paper with every appearance of a notebook it looks and feels like an artefact of the troubled times we have all survived. This is lived experience we can all share with the creators, who have captured so brilliantly the sheer claustrophobia of being trapped within four walls, as indeed is the narrator.

With a mother glued to the news with its rolling horror and a brother glued to his video games, a father coughing in isolation and a sister plotting protest, the boy wonders why the human race seems so intent on destroying themselves. The collage illustrations mainline emotion and every word of the spare poetic narrative hits home.

The connection between George Floyd unable to breathe, tear gas victims unable to breathe, COVID victims unable to breath and the world in the grip of pollution, unable to breathe is truly powerful. But what we and the narrator realise is that the everyday mundane moments that we share with our loved ones is our “oxygen mask” and the repeated refrain as we are reminded to “breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth” brings solace and hope. While capturing a specific moment in time the messages are timeless and enduring.

This is essential reading.

Joy Court

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