亚洲影院

What's the book about?

This young adult novel was inspired by a true story. It focuses on the bond between three young friends and what happens when war and the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust separate them.

What did you like best?

This is a captivating novel about the Holocaust. It is intriguing to read the different perspectives of three young children put through unfathomable circumstances. This book had me feeling as though I was there, watching these characters, feeling what Max, Elsa and Leo all felt and seeing what they went through, at times all alone. 

What, if anything, did you not like?

There was nothing about the book itself that I disliked, however, reading it made me despise those responsible and made me hope for this awful period in history to never to be repeated.

Would you recommend this book? 

From what I know, I found the story to be historically accurate and I definitely learned more about what Jewish people went through during the Holocaust. It was an emotional roller-coaster, heart-wrenching but full of hope too. I鈥檓 very glad to have read it.

What is the book about?

This is a fiction book imagining Anne Frank鈥檚 life before she started keeping the diary.

What did you like best

I really liked everything because I recently read Anne Frank鈥檚 diary so it was interesting to find out more.

What, if anything, did you not like?

One part that made me feel quite sad was when Anne鈥檚 grandmother died.

Would you recommend this book?

I would recommend this book to people who liked Anne Frank鈥檚 diary or books about the past.

What's the book about?

This graphic novel is based on a true story from the author鈥檚 father鈥檚 life before and during WWII and the Holocaust. In 鈥楳aus鈥�, all the characters are drawn as animals. The Nazis are cats and the Jews are mice. The book also follows the relationship between the writer, Art, and his father, Vladek Spiegelman. There鈥檚 2 books which make up 鈥楾he Complete Maus鈥� and this review is of book 1.

What did you like best?

I enjoyed seeing all the characters as animals and the obvious metaphors behind this design choice. I also found seeing how views about Jewish people changed particularly during the war. I found it inspiring to see the manner in which Jewish people in the book came together despite not knowing each other beforehand and before the war. 

What, if anything, did you not like?

I didn鈥檛 dislike anything about the book itself; however, I did dislike some of the information I learned. For example, about how young children were murdered in Auschwitz for crying. It was shocking to think this happened just to stop a minor inconvenience. 

Would you recommend this book?

I would definitely recommend this book 鈥� it is an inspiring story filled with different types of conflict. It shows the appalling actions of the Nazis and those who supported and helped them. It also shows the terrible cruelty Jewish people had to face during Hitler鈥檚 reign and how life could be very difficult afterwards as a result for survivors. The graphic novel is pitched as an adult one and is recommended for readers over 12.

Based on a true story from the author鈥檚 own family, albeit a fictionalised account, this graphic novel follows the life of Irmina, a young German woman who moves to London in 1934. There, she falls in love with Howard, one of the first black students to study at the University of Oxford, and she witnesses the casual racism he experiences. 

The political upheaval of the 1930s leads to Irmina returning home to Germany. When war breaks out and she cannot leave, we see her views on National Socialism begin to slowly change over time. Almost imperceptibly, she accepts what she perhaps would previously not have and Yelin, visually, tells the story of a normal young woman who becomes a bystander in Nazi Germany because it suits her.

As Irmina鈥檚 story unfolds, we see how such a change in a person can occur as well as what the repercussions are, over the course of a long life, of choosing such a way of being. The colour palette used by Yelin to represent Irmina鈥檚 life in Nazi Germany is mostly muted and grey, reflecting the shading perhaps of Irmina鈥檚 own decision making and moral choices and a life lived which could have been very different.

The author used her grandmother鈥檚 diary entries to write 鈥業rmina鈥�. It is suitable in terms of its content from S2 onwards, with no graphic images. However, it may not appear to younger readers simply because of its subject matter and the fact Irmina changes so slowly and is a bystander more than a central active character. 

It鈥檚 most suited to learners with an interest in historical graphic novels and/or educators. 鈥業rmina鈥� can be read without prior background knowledge of Nazi Germany or events and circumstances leading to the Nazis鈥� rise to power, however, this would add to the reading experience.

The detailed afterword by Dr Alexander Korb, director of the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (2012 to 2018), is useful in allowing the reader to further consider the complexity of the story around ideas of complicity and choices.