Lissa: A Story about Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution

by Sherine Hamdy, Berit Anna Oskal Kemi, DJ Antonio (Artist), Caroline Brewer (Artist)

Overview

As young girls in Cairo, Anna and Layla strike up an unlikely friendship that crosses class, cultural, and religious divides. Years later, Anna learns that she may carry the hereditary cancer gene responsible for her mother's death. Meanwhile, Layla's family is faced with a difficult decision about kidney transplantation. Their friendship is put to the test when these medical crises reveal stark differences in their perspectives...until revolutionary unrest in Egypt changes their lives forever.

The first book in a new series, Lissa brings anthropological research to life in comic form, combining scholarly insights and accessible, visually-rich storytelling to foster greater understanding of global politics, inequalities, and solidarity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487593483
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division
Publication date:	11/16/2017
Series:	ethnoGRAPHIC Series
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Sherine Hamdy is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. She is currently writing a young-adult graphic novel that tells the coming-of-age story of a Muslim-American woman.

Coleman Nye is Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University. She was born and raised in Virginia, but now lives in Vancouver, BC.

Sarula Bao graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 with a BFA in Illustration. Based in Brooklyn, NY, her sequential work explores the queer Chinese-American experience.

Caroline Brewer graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 with a degree in Illustration and a concentration in Literary Arts + Studies. They are the author of Autodesk's science fiction anthology FOUR. Currently living in Brooklyn, NY, their work explores themes of childhood, gender, love, and the magically real.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword: Lissa and the Transduction of Ethnography by George E. Marcus

Part I Cairo

Part II Five Years Later

Part III Revolution

A Note About Page 235, Featuring the Art of Ganzeer

Afterword: Reading Lissa by Paul Karasik

Appendix I Timeline of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution
Appendix II Creating Lissa: Concepts, Collaborations, and Craft
Appendix III Teaching Guide
Appendix IV Key References and Further Reading

What People are Saying About This

Anne Fausto-Sterling

"...brilliant storytelling and stunning scholarship."

Benjamin Dix

"A visually compelling and sensitively presented work that demonstrates how juxtaposing sequential art with narrative can render extremely complex global processes and phenomena into a gripping human story."

Emmanuel Guibert

"...offers an intimate and powerful understanding of contemporary medicine and politics."

Egyptian revolutionary street artist/author Ganzeer

I would, without hesitation, deem Lissa required reading for anyone interested in the Egyptian revolution, but also for anyone interested in the complexities of being human and being alive in the twenty-first century.

Jack Shenker

"A dizzying, gripping, and beautiful journey into the world of medicine and mortality—not just its complex emotional universe, but the political realities that structure it too."

Margaret Lock

"...a brilliant fictional account of organ failure, genetic testing, and organ transplantation...a must-read for our alarming times."

Egyptian revolutionary Ganzeer

"...required reading for anyone interested in the Egyptian revolution, but also for anyone interested in the complexities of being human and being alive in the twenty-first century."

Mohamed and Haitham Raafat El-seht

"A tangled and controversial journey through injustice and disease, infused with a healthy dose of revolutionary spirit along the way."

Faye Ginsburg

"...a compelling entry into how issues of illness, mortality, and decisions around them are always shaped in the particulars of history and politics. Bravo!"

Matthew Noe

"With Lissa, the creators have set a new standard for academically oriented comics."

Ian Williams

"...deftly explores diverse political, medical, and ethical themes in one accessible yet erudite package. Essential reading for the graphic medicine community."

Lina Ghaibeh

"Lissa utilizes comics to the fullest, weaving the complexities of friendship, illness, and faith together in a way that bridges cultures and dispels misconceptions, while offering a narrative that engages readers to the very end."

Editorial Reviews

01/08/2018
Revolution is as intimate as family and as mammoth as regime change in this graphic novel focused on the 2011 Tahrir Square demonstrations. Egyptian Layla and American Anna meet as childhood friends in Cairo and support each other through the deaths of parents, neighborhood strife, and, as Anna returns to the U.S., a separation spanning thousands of miles. But as Anna discovers that she is likely to inherit her mother’s fatal breast cancer, and as Layla’s medical education is derailed by political upheaval, their connection frays. The plot is anchored in moments of grace; as Layla picks up prescriptions for her ailing family, Anna wakes from an elective mastectomy, and protests turn bloody, the focus is on the helpers. This is the book’s greatest strength: its belief in decency, even amidst violence and trauma. Its hopeful mood is mirrored by the book’s rounded, flowing visuals: bandages flutter like hair ribbons, water sluices down Anna’s surgical scars, and Layla’s eyes are wide as she tends to the grievously wounded. This is a chronicle of conflict, to be sure, but it is also a tribute to persistence of friendship and the power of a people united. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Whether you read Lissa to educate yourself about health issues or research methods, or you just want to find out what happens to Layla and Anna, this graphic novel shows the huge and still untapped potential of comics for use in medicine and global health."

The Lancet

"I have nothing but admiration for this book. The story is compelling—even a page turner. Moreover, it is informative,
historically and culturally situated and uplifting—or, at least, it ends on a hopeful note—teaching hard truths, or glimpses of them, in an accessible and digestible way."

Shelly Errington