Stitches: A Memoir

by David Small · 2009

In *Stitches*, award‑winning illustrator David Small turns his own harrowing adolescence into a stark, haunting graphic memoir. At fourteen, a routine operation leaves him mute—his vocal cord ripped out and his throat sewn shut—while his parents conceal the truth that he has cancer and may not survive. Through stark black‑and‑white panels, Small exposes a gothic family drama: a father who channels his frustration into aggressive medical experiments, a mother who rules the household with silent, oppressive control, and a son whose extraordinary artistic talent becomes both refuge and burden. As the images cascade, readers witness his painful descent into isolation and the slow, courageous journey toward physical healing, emotional emancipation, and creative rebirth.