Apprentice Book

Everything is Far from Here

by Cristina Henriquez

I chose to make my apprentice book based on the story “Everything is Far from Here”. This story inspired me the most because it was very emotional and about a topic which I find critically important in our present day lives. I chose to use the words “and your pretty” and “boys will be boys” on my cover page. These phrases really struck me while I was reading this story. I also feel like women’s experiences with sexual harassment/assault are undermined and this was a perfect example of that. On the inside of the book, I also created a prison cell that says on the inside “Everything is Far from INSIDE Here”. This was supposed to symbolize how the immigrants were trapped in this facility, and even trapped in their home country in an unsafe situation. Lastly, I made a cartoon on the back of my apprentice book titled superheroes. Then I drew a picture of man holding up a sign that said, “This is America, we don’t want you here.” This is supposed to connect to the part of the story where the main character sees American protesters outside of the facility/detention center she’s being kept in. I really tried to pick phrases from the book that would be the most impactful to someone viewing my apprentice book.

I decorated my book using various different mediums. I used markers for most of the lettering in my book because I wanted the writing to look clean. I also used markers for small details so I wouldn’t smudge them with paint. I used paint for the bigger drawings in my book so I could add more dimension to them. I used pencil to create more detail, and in their jail cell image to represent a darker element. I drew a lion on the inside cover to represent the main character’s son. Her son’s name is Gabriel, which means strength. Lions are a visual representation of strength. This also represents the strength she had to travel to America and be away from her son. I also drew a dove on the inside of the back cover, representing peace and freedom. This is to represent all immigrants’ dreams of being free and at peace, away from danger. My thought process was that using both pictures and words to represent the book would add more symbolism to the book I created. Finally, I used a piece of twine to tie my book together, representing the feeling of being trapped. I thought the twine tied my book together nicely and gave it an additional 3D element.