About the Author

Mali Under the Night Sky is Youme's third book. Her first book--Selavi, A Haitian Story of Hope--won the Jane Adams Peace Award in 2005. The American Library Association chose her next book--a graphic novel called Pitch Black--as a Top Ten Graphic Novel for Teens in 2009. Born in 1968, Anthony Horton is a homeless artist who lives underneath New York City. His work can be seen along the tunnel walls in the darkest parts of the transit system.

Reviews

"In the four years that Youme Landowne, a Brooklyn artist, has known Anthony Horton, a homeless man who used to spend most of his nights underground, in nooks and crannies wedged around subway tunnels, [she has] learned several basic rules for subterranean life. The rules are spelled out in a spare, affecting book of illustrations…The book details the filthy and often frightening conditions in the subway tunnels and introduces the readers to a handful of colorful characters, though its focus is on the two main characters’ friendship and collaboration."—New York Times

"I sat right down and read through [Pitch Black]... I found it immediately engaging and also interesting in the respect that at first you think it's about homelessness then, as you read on, perhaps about race and, finally, you discover that it reaches for something beyond those thorny and somewhat shopworn subjects; the simple and pure light of hope." —Lee Stringer

"The two artists [began] a collaboration that ends in this beautiful, gritty biography. Both Youme and Anthony contributed text and art to the book–their black and gray watercolors are tender and raw, their words spare and poetic. This book’s unflinching look at homelessness and the ability to find hope and inspiration in the dark will appeal greatly to teens."—School Library Journal

"Artist and writer Youme Landowne was standing on a New York City subway platform in 2005 when a black man standing nearby came over to talk to her…They two not only came to know each other as fellow artists and friends but have collaborated on Pitch Black: Don’t Be Skerd, a children’s book released this past fall by Cincos Puntos Press that tells the story of their friendship and Horton’s life as homeless man living and drawing in the subway." —Publisher's Weekly Comics Week

"Muralist and book artist Landowne met Horton shortly after the release of her 2004 picture book Selavi; the two collaborate here to bring Horton's story of perseverance and hope to print, and the fluid black-and-white sequential panels tell it well. The horrors attendant on homelessness are not sugarcoated, and the language is as raw and gritty as one might expect. Powerful."—Kirkus Reviews

"Pitch Black could serve as a tool for educators when approaching the difficult subjects of homelessness and cultural differences (the publisher would like to place it in school libraries to make it accessible to young readers), but it is likely to be most appreciated by adults for its thoughtful and forthright handling of the material." —Brooklyn Daily Eagle

"Many lives of rejection, despair, survival, and hope live underground beneath the drawings just as Horton lived underground in New York subway tunnels…We want to know more about Horton, but like peering down a dark tunnel, we only catch glimpses. For academic and high school libraries, and teen as well as adult collections in public libraries."—Library Journal

"This short, collaborative graphic novel introduces teens to a life unheard of by most…The artwork done in black, white, and gray watercolor tones is realistic and sparse with subway details illustrating a wide range of multicultural characters riding the subway." —Voya