A HILARIOUS TALE OF THE DREADED HIGH-SCHOOL REUNION, INCLUDING DRASTIC WEIGHT LOSS, UNREQUITED LOVE, AND SHATTERED FANTASIES
Reunion is a semiautobiographical book that recounts the events of the summer of 2009, when Pascal Girard received an invitation to attend his ten-year high-school reunion. Initially dismissing the idea of attending, he quickly changes his mind when he receives an e-mail from Lucie Coté, the girl he had a huge crush on in high school. She tells Pascal that she will be at the reunion and wonders if he would like to accompany her. Pascal becomes flustered with joy, but two problems remain: he must keep his almost uncontrollable infatuation a secret from his girlfriend, Julie, and he must do something about his weight. At 252 pounds, he frets that his weight will put him in the "loser" category among his former classmates, but most of all, he must do something to impress Lucie. He decides on a drastic plan of action: he takes up jogging every day until he reaches his goal of shedding fifty pounds. Three months pass as Pascal dutifully jogs and fantasizes about meeting Lucie, until finally he reaches his weight goal on the eve of the reunion. The now-slender Pascal arrives at the big event, full of fervent anticipation. However, one by one, his fantasies of moving into the "winner" category become cruelly deflated with each conversation he has with his former classmates.
Girard has quickly emerged as one of the best under-thirty cartoonists in North America. Having started drawing comics only five years ago (he worked in construction until recently), Girard's talent as both a writer and an artist has taken enormous strides with each new book he has created. Reunion is laugh-out-loud funny, with wry, self-deprecating humor, and Girard's cartooning is effortless in its fluidity.

Most of Pascal Girard's bios state that he's been drawing "since forever". That's a lie. No one has been drawing "since forever". That's impossible and illogical. Pascal Girard isn't able to remember the exact moment when he started drawing. But he knows everything has to start somewhere, and he is most certain that before that single instant where he started drawing he obviously did not draw. That's always how it goes. He is pretty sure, however, that his first book was published in 2006 and that ever since then he has written a few more : Bigfoot, Reunion andPetty Theft, just to name a few. When he isn't working on a specific project, Pascal keeps on drawing. Dessins offers us a peek into his day-to-day work. It's his first book for Pow Pow Press.

Pascal Girard's profile page

Helge Dascher has for 25 years translated texts with a dynamic relationship to images. A background in art history and literature has grounded her translation of over sixty graphic novels, many by artists who have broadened the medium's storytelling range. Her translations included acclaimed titles such as Julie Delporte's This Woman's Work (co-translated with Aleshia Jensen, Drawn and Quarterly, 2019), Sophie Bédard's Lonely Boys (co-translated with Robin Lang, Pow Pow Press, 2020) and Michel Rabagliati's "Paul" books (Drawn and Quarterly, Conundrum). She also translates exhibitions, digital stories, and films, most recently Theodor Ushev's The Physics of Sorrow (with Karen Houle, NFB, 2019). A Montrealer, she works from French and German to English.

Helge Dascher's profile page