Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children

by Kath Shackleton (Editor), Zane Whittingham (Illustrator), Ryan Jones (Designed by)

Overview

This extraordinary graphic novel tells the true stories of six Jewish children and young people who survived the Holocaust.

Between 1933 and 1945, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were responsible for the persecution of millions of Jews across Europe. From suffering the horrors of Auschwitz, to hiding from Nazi soldiers in war-torn Paris, to sheltering from the Blitz in England, each true story is a powerful testament to the survivors' courage. These remarkable testimonials serve as a reminder never to allow such a tragedy to happen again.

Also in this graphic novel:

• Current photographs of each contributor along with an update about their lives
• A glossary
• A timeline to support the reader and develop their understanding of this period

School and Library Association Information Books Awards, 2017 in the UK.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492688938
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	110,227
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Kath Shackleton is a producer and animator at the animation studio Fettle. She is based in Yorkshire, UK.

Zane Whittingham is Animation Director for Fettle Animation. He is based in Yorkshire, UK.

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2019

Gr 4–8—Each of these six accounts of Holocaust survivors are unique, yet all convey terror and despair. The contributors were children from different parts of Europe when the Nazis came to power in Germany, and all of their families were torn apart by rampant anti-Semitism. One child was saved by a neighbor when the Nazis came to take her family away, one child was sent to a concentration camp, one child was part of the Kindertransport, and yet another child's family managed to escape to England. The graphic novel format and first-person narration create an intimate, harrowing portrait. Each story uses a different color scheme, some with burnt oranges and browns, some with more subdued blues, each slightly distinct from the next. The blocky illustrations are child-friendly and accessible yet still explore dark themes and images, making this a good option for upper elementary school students and middle schoolers. Excellent back matter includes photos and descriptions of the children as adults, an extensive time line and glossary, and a lengthy list of websites for further research. VERDICT Using an engaging format to shed light on a devastating yet important topic, this is a strong choice for most libraries.—Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal

08/26/2019

In this graphic novel repackaging of an animation series created in 2014 and produced for BBC Learning, six Holocaust survivors narrate their experiences in unsparing terms. Whittingham’s angular images—a hybrid of German Expressionism and contemporary vector art—depict the fear and horror they endured as Jewish children and teenagers. The survivors’ recollections of seeing their frantic parents powerless in the face of an inexorable force (Nazis are depicted as brutal, often larger-than-life automatons) is particularly searing: in many images, the characters run in fear or sit with devastating loneliness after being separated forever from a loved one. “Nobody ever said, I’ll explain what happened to you,” says Suzanne, a Parisian Jew with curly red hair who went from “a lovely life. It was a cultured life” to being hidden and abused after her parents were taken away and murdered. The narratives often end abruptly, gnawing at the heart; an afterword includes photos of the now-elderly survivors and brief descriptions of their achievements—including, most hearteningly, grandchildren. Ages 10–up. (Oct.)■

Publishers Weekly

"Nothing short of miraculous...never pushing past what a young reader can bear." — Booklist

"Using an engaging format to shed light on a devastating yet important topic, this is a strong choice for most libraries." — School Library Journal

"searing...gnawing at the heart" — Publishers Weekly

"Presents powerful testimonials from six individuals who survived the Holocaust as children. " — School Library Connection

"A dramatic and memorable story...These individual stories can help kids understand the true impact of childhood separations from their families, the chilling prospect of never seeing your family members again and can help engage them in discussions about current events on immigration in our country today. " — Youth Services Book Review

"Powerful, memorable, chilling—a vital addition to libraries" — Nel Ward, Oregon Coast Youth Book Preview Center

From the Publisher

2019-07-28
Shackleton works very hard to protect readers from the stories she's presenting.

Each chapter of this graphic novel recounts the true experiences of a Jewish child who survived the Holocaust, and the stories, told by the survivors and edited by Shackleton, can be painful to read. Arek was nearly sent to a gas chamber at Birkenau and had to watch a girl being pulled away from her mother by the guards. But each chapter ends with the child living in a safe place. This is not to say that every chapter has a happy ending. One boy sees rockets exploding during an air raid. A girl named Suzanne finds shelter on a farm far out in the country and, ironically, doesn't learn that the war has ended until two years after it's over. But every segment concludes on a positive note, as in: "Suzanne was eventually rescued by the Red Cross and taken to live with her grandmother in…England." This makes some sections of the book feel truncated, but readers may be grateful for the relief. Suzanne even ends up surrounded by farm animals in a truly lovely illustration. Whittingham's character designs are inventive and, in their bleakest moments, resemble the animated sequences in Pink Floyd's The Wall, which seems appropriate, since the book was inspired by animated films from the BBC.

Choppy storytelling doesn't lessen the power or truth of the stories. (glossary, timeline, index, recommended websites) (Graphic nonfiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews