By Thomas Velissaris Ballad for Sophie by Filipe Melo (Author) and Juan Cavia (Illustrator), is a story about people and their personas, about egos and alter egos. It is about hiding one’s self behind a mask both to avoid and to reveal the truth; to reveal the true self. And the more the mask is firmly attached to one’s face the more it needs to break. It is a graphic novel of exceptional sensitivity, exposing the traumas emerging from life, death, and human encounters. It is also a study about parenthood, boyhood, and girlhood. I have read it twice in