A House Without Windows

“[A House Without Windows] pulls off something difficult with a quiet beauty. It mixes photography and comics from page to page, marshaling the strengths of each in the service of a devastating topic: the precarious lives of children in the Central African Republic, the former French colony that is one of the poorest countries in the world….A profound meditation on the possibility of resilience and the future for young people in the Central African Republic, this hybrid reportage succeeds in no small part because of Kassaï’s elegantly modest drawings....In a book whose content is far from understated — it chronicles, in part, the brutality kids face — Kassaï movingly deploys understated effects….Dense with information, the photos in the book are arresting, while the illustrated portions breathe, and beckon the reader to contend with the wider context for the fragility of so many young lives.” * THE NEW YORK TIMES *
"Kassaï’s visuals are marvelously intimate—with only a few artfully deployed brushstrokes, he conveys everything from the slumped weariness of a homeless child to the clenched consternation of a Doctors Without Borders field coordinator. The book also includes a QR code link to a video, and the mixing of mediums succeeds at immersion, rather than coming off as gimmicky. Ellison and Kassai don’t look away from the brutality or beauty found in Central African life in this remarkable collaboration." * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *
"The book lets the children and those trying to help them tell their own stories, an exercise in comics documentary reportage as well as a political effort in its own right." * TRIPWIRE *
“ESSENTIAL… Illustrator Didier has a wonderfully organic style and deft eye honed as a political cartoonist and Satirist…. This collaborative effort works unflinchingly with an honesty that’s both heartbreaking and beautiful in it’s non-exploitive and sober snapshot of Central African life. You’ll want to look away, but you’ll be drawn in to continue. I both smiled and wept within a single sitting with A House Without Windows. If you don’t? Check your pulse.The intimate case studies featured in this remarkable work of powerful comic art and hard hitting photojournalism shines an indelible light on the human rights abuses these forgotten yet unforgettable children have endured, and showcase the incredible intelligence, resilience and inspirational courage of children on the brink, forced to fend for themselves in the face of unimaginable poverty. This is the first must read book of the year for me and I highly recommend A House Without Windows. A masterpiece of graphic novel journalism.” * GOOD MEN PROJECT *
"Told in a style that mixes photos and illustrations, the valiant Didier, pencil in hand, approaches whoever is willing to talk to him, with only empathy and understanding, going where probably no one has dared to go, inside the warring zones of Bangui, at the Central African Republic." * GEEK DAD *