Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton

Thrilling—a spirited, poignant coming-of-age vignette and an intriguing window into a little-known chapter in vaudeville history.

Phelan’s watercolors are expertly rendered and soft in focus, but pop at just the right moments, simultaneously showing the sleepiness of the town, the glamour of show business, and the energy of summer. ... Bluffton is a rich and engaging story with a lot of charm, and will be a great choice for early chapter-book readers and graphic-novel fans.

Phelan’s soft, pastel watercolors perfectly depict the idyllic lakeside summer as well as the riotous circus antics and elaborate pranks Buster and his family pull, both on and off the stage. There’s enough background about vaudeville, Buster Keaton, and the real-life Actors’ Colony in Bluffton to make this an informative glimpse into American history, but it’s compellingly, solidly centered on Henry’s discovery that, while the grass on the other side may appear greener, more exciting, and full of the thrill of fame, the grass on his own side, where he’s happy being himself, is just as good.

Historical detail, a rich sense of place, expert pacing — Phelan keeps all the plates in the air in this fictionalized recreation of the boyhood summers of Buster Keaton.

Phelan, whose appended author’s note indicates he is a lifelong Keaton fan, carefully balances the joy of his subject’s outrageous pranks (rigging the walls of an outhouse to suddenly coming apart, surprising its occupant) with poignancy, including the agonized expressions on Buster’s face when his drunk father berates him. The fictional elements weave seamlessly together with the historical ones for a look into the past that will surely win Buster Keaton some twenty-first-century fans.

This graphic novel illustrates this simple story of a boy finding his true self with soft watercolor illustrations, using words only when necessary. The work has an overall charm and simplicity that goes with its time period.