Alte Zachen: Old Things

This first graphic novel from Cicada follows 11-year-old Benji and his elderly grandmother, Bubbe Rosa, as they traverse Brooklyn and Manhattan, gathering the ingredients for a Friday night dinner. BubbeÆs relationship with the city is complex û nothing is quite as she remembered it and she feels alienated and angry at the world around her. Benji, on the other hand, looks at the world, and his grandmother, with clear-eyed acceptance.

As they wander the city, we catch glimpses of BubbeÆs childhood in Germany, her young adulthood in 1950s Brooklyn, and her relationships, first with a baker called Gershon, and later with successful Joe, BenjiÆs grandfather. Gradually we piece together snippets of BubbeÆs life, gaining an insight to some of the things that have formed her cantankerous personality.

The journey culminates on the Lower East Side in a moving reunion between Rosa and Gershon, her first love. As the sun sets, Benji and his Bubbe walk home over the Williamsburg Bridge to make dinner.