A pair of local professionals created an out of the ordinary book aimed at broadening awareness about human trafficking.
The dynamic duo from Honolulu has exceeded their financing goals and will soon take their novel to print.
Spencer Toyama and Jon Lewis are friends, co-workers and the masterminds behind a brand new novel with a major message.
"Home of the Brave is a graphic novel about poverty and human trafficking, author Spencer Toyama said.
The story is told through the eyes of a 13 year-old girl who is sold into slavery in America…but this isn’t your average book the novel is written and illustrated in the form of a comic.
"It’s a totally different thing making a comic book for the first time and telling a story that isn’t on film or doesn’t have actors or anything like that. As an illustrator its up to me to do the acting and do the set dressing,” illustrator Jon Lewis said.
The two created a Kickstarter page to launch their 135 page project and went to the East Coast to pitch their idea at New York Comic Con. Lucky for them they recently exceeded their fundraising goal of $12,000.
"As opposed to going to a small board room of people and asking them do you think out story is any good and would you be able to back it now we can go direct to market,” Toyama said.
Both were inspired to create the book after working with local and national non-profits aimed at stopping the human trafficking epidemic, preventing bullying and slavery.
"A lot of the story is really influenced by these survival tales,” he said.
Although Home of the Brave is presented in a comic book format its written for mature audiences…its suggested that teens seek parental approval.
“Its not approachable but if they dive into it and start reading they might they go wow this is really crazy awesome,” Lewis said.
The novel is already available on iBook in an interactive version.
For download and release information visit www.myhomeisbrave.com
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
