The Invisible War

February 1, 2019

Gr 7 Up-Science and history blend in this tale of two intertwined battles. The first is the story of World War I nurses from Australia fighting to save soldiers injured in the 1916 Battle of Pozières in France. The second takes place on a microscopic level and involves the gut microbes of Nurse Annie Barnaby. Exposed to dysentery from an ill soldier, Barnaby's body works to fight the deadly Shigella flexneri bacteria. Black-and-white illustrations move seamlessly between the microscopic world and the battlefront hospital, accompanied by expository text when necessary. Particularly helpful is the final section, which answers questions such as, "Where Was the Western Front?" and "Why Are There So Many Bacteria in the Gut?" The interdisciplinary approach of this historical graphic novel is unique and instructive. VERDICT A complementary text to science and history curricula.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2019
Grades 4-7 Here's the most bizarre concept of the year, possibly ever: splitting the story's perspective between a WWI nurse who contracts a deadly case of dysentery and the dysentery itself. Yes, you read that correctly. While we follow Sister Annie, an empathic nurse, through rounds in a WWI Casualty Clearing Center, we also follow the Shiga Gang, the Shigella Flexner bacteria infecting her innards ( Sweet! Now we gonna partay! shout the bacteria) as her immune system mounts a counterattack. Perhaps this inner struggle is a metaphor for the devastating war raging outside, and then, perhaps, it's actually the other way around. In any case, it could be difficult to sell such a concept to most tween readers, and not just because bloody feces play such a central role. However, Wild and Barr have a contagious passion for their subject, and leaving this out for casual browsing could work wonders?the cool/gross supermagnified depictions of bacteria and viruses help considerably. Includes explanatory text on both the history and the science, which it will be very helpful to read first.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from February 15, 2019
A nurse's gastrointestinal battle with dysentery is paired with the horrors of World War I trench warfare in this graphic novel.It is 1916, and Annie, a white Australian nurse stationed in France, is tending to the wounded who come pouring in from the Western Front. But another fight, unbeknownst to her, is going on in her gastrointestinal tract. A wounded man she treats has bloody diarrhea that turns out to be dysentery. Annie is accidentally contaminated with the bacteria. How she gets infected is rather gross--but that's this story's strength. Blood, mucous, diarrhea, amputated limbs, death--it's all here, presented in a frank way. While Annie's story is fictional, the events of the war and the biology presented are fact, detailed further in extensive backmatter. The black-and-white illustrations tell it like it is--when Annie has diarrhea, she is shown sitting on the toilet. But it is the panels and storyline about the microbes that highlight both the illustrator's and authors' skills. The battle between the Shigella (dysentery-causing) bacteria and the many kinds of viruses, bacteroides, prevotella, and other microorganisms that Annie's body activates to defend itself has the tension of an epic battle, and readers will alternately be gripped with anxiety (will the good microbes win?), filled with wonder at the amazing defenses of the human body, and grossed out (talking about you, mucous.)Grossly fabulous. (map, historical and scientific information) (Graphic science/historical fiction. 12-16)

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July 1, 2019
Created by Briony Barr and Gregory Crocetti. After caring for a WWI soldier infected with dysentery on the Western Front in 1916, Sister Annie Barnaby, a nurse, contracts the disease herself. As the invading �cf2]Shigella�cf1] bacteria wreak havoc in her gut, Annie's body--via bacteriophage--fights back: "You infect, we protect!" Black-and-white panels focus on a microcosmic life-or-death battle in this engrossing graphic-novel mash-up of historical fiction and medical science.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 1, 2019

Gr 7 Up-Science and history blend in this tale of two intertwined battles. The first is the story of World War I nurses from Australia fighting to save soldiers injured in the 1916 Battle of Pozi�res in France. The second takes place on a microscopic level and involves the gut microbes of Nurse Annie Barnaby. Exposed to dysentery from an ill soldier, Barnaby's body works to fight the deadly Shigella flexneri bacteria. Black-and-white illustrations move seamlessly between the microscopic world and the battlefront hospital, accompanied by expository text when necessary. Particularly helpful is the final section, which answers questions such as, "Where Was the Western Front?" and "Why Are There So Many Bacteria in the Gut?" The interdisciplinary approach of this historical graphic novel is unique and instructive. VERDICT A complementary text to science and history curricula.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 21, 2016
How much history and science can a reader learn from a graphic novel? This new art-science offering from publisher Scale Free Network suggests quite a lot! The Invisible War is graphic novel that introduces readers to both the microbiology of our gut and life on the Western Front during World War I. It covers several weeks in the life of Australian nurse Sister Annie Barnaby at a British casualty clearing station on the River Somme, just a few kilometres from the trenches at Poziéres. The horrors of trench warfare (artillery, bayonets and gas attacks) is juxtaposed with the assault on Barnaby’s gut from the ‘Shiga gang’ or Shigella dysenteriae, the bacterium responsible for dysentery. The authors dramatically illustrate this hidden world of microbes, while further encouraging curiosity about the associated science and history. The story is also supported by an illuminating appendix. The Invisible War is a welcome addition to the small, but possibly growing, group of graphic novels underpinned by quality science and history reporting. It is well executed and recommended to those who favour unconventional learning. Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is a freelance writer and book-reviewer, specialising in the historical and philosophical impacts of science