As autumn turns toward winter in 1938 Berlin, life for Marianne Kohn, a young Jewish girl, begins to crumble. First there was the burning of the neighbourhood shops. Then her father, a mild-mannered bookseller, must leave the family and go into hiding. No longer allowed to go to school or even sit in a café, Marianne’s only comfort is her beloved mother. Things are bad, but could they get even worse? Based on true events, this fictional account of hatred and racism speaks volumes about both history and human nature.
We bought this little graphic novel in a recent book sale at our local library. It's described as being 'a heartbreaking story of loss and love', which basically it is, being the story of a young Jewish girl growing up in Germany just before the outbreak of World War II. It's aimed at a younger audience, so it doesn't have too many of the more raw elements that other stories based on events during this time have. Having said that, there is enough drawn and written to show the sadness and pain of the times so that a younger person could understand what is going on and how wrong it all was. It's a well-drawn and written story. The art has a certain bleakness, which adds to what the story is all about. It would be a good starter for starting a conversation about the holocaust with children.
