People who know graphic novels say Craig Thompson”s new book, Habibi,’ is beautifully drawn in varying black-and-white styles, is an outstanding accomplishment which raises the bar for the art form, and tells a sweeping story.

Thompson will speak at the Cannon Beach Library Saturday Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. Habibi’ covers many centuries and crosses cultures in a landscape of deserts, harems and modern industrial clutter to follow Dodola and Zam, refugee child slaves who go on to become lovers.

The publisher describes it as both contemporary and timeless, “a love story of astounding resonance:  a parable about our relationship to the natural world, the cultural divide between the First and Third Worlds, the common heritage of Christianity and Islam, and, most potently, the magic of storytelling.”

Thompson moved to Portland several years ago and spent six years writing and illustrating Habibi.’

Thompson won international acclaim 10 years ago for Blankets,’ a coming-of-age tale. That book has since been published in nearly 20 languages and is being reissued.

Thompson will have just returned from a European book tour when he comes to Cannon Beach.

After his talk at the library, Thompson will receive a best book prize from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.

Terry Brooks, the beach resident whose fantasy science fiction shares some themes with those in Habibi,’ will present the award, which is judged by librarians and booksellers most familiar with writing in the region. The association has a good record of calling attention to rising important writers.

Cannon Beach Book Company, the library and The Waves Hotel sponsor this Second Saturday Northwest Authors Series. The event is free. Jean Furchner, the library board president, has remarked several times on the importance of raising money “in case we need to replace our roof.”

That time has arrived, announced by a drip, drip, drip in the fiction section during a recent rainstorm. Don Royse, the volunteer librarian that evening, noticed the leak just as he was about to close up, which probably avoided a lot of damage that could have occurred overnight.

So we did not lose any books.

The roof has leaked and been patched before. We believe the main roof is about 40 years old, so it is time to do the whole job.

We will try to keep readers up to date on when the weather will allow the work to be done. The library will close, perhaps for a few days, during the reroofing. We don”t want anyone hurt if something should fly off the roof.