DePauw Stories

“Wink,” a young adult novel by Rob Harrell ’91, is garnering praise from some high places.

“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” Harrell said in an email message. “My mind is thoroughly blown.”

Time magazine included “Wink” on among its list of the 10 best young adult and children’s books of 2020.

“In this irreverent story, based on author Rob Harrell’s own experience with the same type of cancer, a young boy manages ordinary middle school issues while also coming to grips with his own vulnerability,” the magazine said in a Nov. 24 online post. “Using his trademark humor and spot illustrations to provide levity, Harrell treats all of Ross’s experiences with the respect that they deserve.”

Indeed, Harrell was diagnosed 14 years ago with a rare ocular cancer that blinded him in one eye and threatened his career drawing a comic strip and painting fine art. He told DePauw Magazine last year that “Wink” is not autobiographical, though the main character does get the same diagnosis and undergoes the same medical treatment that saved the sight in Harrell’s good eye.

The Book Concierge, National Public Radio’s annual year-end reading guide, also included “Wink” on its list of the best books for 2020. 

“This funky little book mixes comic book elements with sly jokes and characters that should be two-dimensional but always find a way to show another side,” the NPR listing said. NPR tags books to enable readers to identify books right for them; it tagged “Wink” as an eye-opening read – no pun intended – because it “will give you a new perspective on the topic at hand.”

And the librarians at the New York Public Library placed “Wink” among the best books for kids this year.

“It's the start of seventh grade and Ross just wants to blend into the background and hang with his friends,” the library’s website said. “After he is diagnosed with a rare eye cancer and one of his best friends ghosts him, Ross, armed with his new guitar, decides to face the music.”

“Wink” is Harrell’s sixth book. With its serious premise, the “hybrid” novel – prose plus 80 illustrations – was a departure from his previous, heavily illustrated graphic novels, the “Life of Zarf” series and “Monster on the Hill.”