Tag Archives: 1940s

Review: Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation written by Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman, and illustrations by David Polonsky

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Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Novel Adaptation

Anne Frank’s Diary
Anne Frank
Adapted by Ari Folman
Illustrations by David Polonsky
Pantheon Books
Published October 2, 2018

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About Anne Frank’s Diary

A timeless story rediscovered by each new generation, The Diary of a Young Girl stands without peer. For both young readers and adults it continues to capture the remarkable spirit of Anne Frank, who for a time survived the worst horror the modern world has seen—and who remained triumphantly and heartbreakingly human throughout her ordeal.

Adapted by Ari Folman, illustrated by David Polonsky, and authorized by the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, this is the first graphic edition of The Diary and includes extensive quotation directly from the definitive edition. It remains faithful to the original, while the stunning illustrations interpret and add layers of visual meaning and immediacy to this classic work of Holocaust literature.

My Review

I read THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL for the first time this year. I’d read a play based on the diary and seen it performed while I was in school, but I hadn’t read the original text for myself until now.

One of the reasons I did is because of this graphic adaptation. (Note: the term graphic adaptation simply means it’s told in a series of images in panels, much like a comic strip, but the content is nonfiction, so it’s not a graphic novel.)

Anne Frank’s Diary Banned

ANNE FRANK’S DIARY was banned in at least one high school library in a county near me early in 2023. I read about the content that a parent objected to, but didn’t really have a grid for it since I’d never read the graphic adaptation being pulled or the original diary.

The content the parent objected to is on a two-page spread. There are three images showing Anne and her friend Jacque having a sleepover. Anne asks Jacque if they can show one another their breasts, and Jacque says no. Ann laments that she wanted very much to kiss her friend. The next page shows Anne walking through a garden of vaguely sketched nude statues with a caption that she feels ecstasy at the sight of a female body.

The content is brief and pretty vague, and Jacque even rebuffs Anne. These scenes come directly from Frank’s diary entries.

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Only Graphic Adaptation Authorized by the Anne Frank Foundation

Having read both these books so closely together, I think the graphic adaptation is faithful to the original text and the spirit of it. There were diary entries that I recognized in the graphic adaptation. Sometimes multiple scenes were combined to show one scene. Some of the illustrations show a scene at a dinner Anne describes. At other times, they present a more metaphorical interpretation of what happened. I found that I really enjoyed that combination and the way it illuminated some of the things Anne describes.

Still the Same Sparky, Brilliant Young Girl

The things that stood out to me so much in this book as with the diary itself were how young Anne is. At times, her temper and her emotions get the better of her, as they do with any of us. At other times, she writes with so much humor and depth that it’s hard to remember she was barely a teenager herself.

The man who adapted the book points out in a note at the back of the book that a famous historian once said, “more people are probably familiar with the Nazi era through the figure of Anne Frank than through any other figure of that period, except perhaps of Adolf Hitler himself.”

I had to let that sink in. And I had to think about the fact that we are now telling some high school students they can’t read this book. Or MAUS, the duology written by Art Spiegelman about his father’s life as a survivor of the Holocaust.

It’s very weird to me that there are places in which you can legally drive a car and get a job but not have access to these books at your school.

Conclusion

I’m so glad I read ANNE FRANK’S DIARY: THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION and the original, DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL by Anne Frank. The story they tell is a pretty simple one. It’s about a girl who keeps a diary, pretending to write letters to a friend as her family faces prejudice, adversity, and ultimately, their own murders.

I really enjoyed the way the illustrations celebrated Anne’s humor and her wit. And I deeply appreciate that they show the vast range of feelings she describes in her diary. I loved the book, and I would like to check out the movie directed by the adapter of the book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Anne, her family, and the others hiding in the Secret Annex are Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Anne reports she once asked a female friend if she could see her breasts and wanted to kiss her. She says she feels “ecstasy” when seeing female bodies. She mentions speaking openly with Peter about the bodies of men and women. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Anne’s family celebrates Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day together.

Violent Content
Anne hears rumors of citizens being executed. She hears rumors about people taken to concentration camps and killed there. Anne worries about friends from school and others her family knew. She sometimes has a dream of them asking her for help.

Drug Content
Anne takes Valerian drops to combat feelings of anxiety and panic during her time in hiding.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog.

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation is a beautifully illustrated adaptation of the original diary telling about Anne’s years in hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland.

Review: Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros

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Wrath Becomes Her
Aden Polydoros
Inkyard Press
Published October 10, 2023

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About Wrath Becomes Her

FRANKENSTEIN meets INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS in this stunning Jewish historical horror novel from the award-winning author of THE CITY BEAUTIFUL.

Vera was made for vengeance.

Lithuania, 1943. A father drowns in the all-consuming grief of a daughter killed by the Nazis. He can’t bring Chaya back from the dead, but he can use kishuf — an ancient and profane magic — to create a golem in her image. A Nazi killer, to avenge her death.

When Vera awakens, she can feel her violent purpose thrumming within her. But she can also feel glimpses of a human life lived, of stolen kisses amidst the tragedy, and of a grisly death. And when she meets Akiva, she recognizes the boy with soft lips that gave warm kisses. But these memories aren’t hers, and Vera doesn’t know if she gets—or deserves —to have a life beyond what she was made for.

Vera’s strength feels limitless—until she learns that there are others who would channel kishuf for means far less noble than avenging a daughter’s death. As she confronts the very basest of humanity, Vera will need more than what her creator gave Not just a reason to fight, but a reason to live. 

My Review

This is the first book by Aden Polydoros that I’ve read. I started BONE WEAVER, but got pulled away from the book before I could finish it. I knew from that that I liked the writing style, so I felt pretty confident that I would like this book– and I did!

The subject is pretty dark, and the story takes place in winter in Lithuania, so it’s freezing cold in the middle of a war in which the Jews aren’t guaranteed to be safe even from the soldiers fighting against the Germans.

Vera’s exploration of her identity and her desperation to understand humanity reminded me a lot of the book FRANKENSTEIN. She knows she’s other, but she has such deep human impulses and desires, and at first, she idolizes humans. The more she sees war and how people treat one another, the less enamored she is with people.

I thought the story might follow a well-established pattern in which the idea of personhood is explored and romance happens between a created being and a human. There are some hints of romance, especially on Vera’s side, but the story doesn’t center around romantic love.

I really liked the ending of the book. It wasn’t simple, but it felt right to me. I think readers who enjoyed THIS REBEL HEART by Katherine Locke will like this one, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to celebrating Shabbos. References to Jewish folklore, history, and religious texts.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Warfare. References to torture. Graphic descriptions of injuries sustained in battles.

Drug Content
A soldier drinks Vodka from a flask and uses it to wash a wound.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of WRATH BECOMES HER in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Killing Code by Ellie Marney

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The Killing Code
Ellie Marney
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 20, 2022

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About The Killing Code

A historical mystery about a girl who risks everything to track down a vicious serial killer, for fans of THE ENIGMA GAME and A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER.

Virginia, 1943: World War II is raging in Europe and on the Pacific front when Kit Sutherland is recruited to help the war effort as a codebreaker at Arlington Hall, a former girls’ college now serving as the site of a secret US Signals Intelligence facility in Virginia. But Kit is soon involved in another kind of fight: Government girls are being brutally murdered in Washington DC, and when Kit stumbles onto a bloody homicide scene, she is drawn into the hunt for the killer.

To find the man responsible for the gruesome murders and bring him to justice, Kit joins forces with other female codebreakers at Arlington Hall—gossip queen Dottie Crockford, sharp-tongued intelligence maven Moya Kershaw, and cleverly resourceful Violet DuLac from the segregated codebreaking unit. But as the girls begin to work together and develop friendships—and romance—that they never expected, two things begin to come clear: the murderer they’re hunting is closing in on them…and Kit is hiding a dangerous secret.

My Review

Every time I read a great historical novel, I feel like I end up saying I need to read more historical books. I loved that THE KILLING CODE explores another part of World War II and specifically what was happening in the United States during the war. I also loved that it focuses on the relationships between women.

Moya and Kit alternate telling us the story. A few scenes kind of zoom out and give us a more omniscient view, setting up the scene before returning to that close third-person viewpoint. I really liked both Kit and Moya, so I loved getting to see both their perspectives. The transitions heightened tension and some romantic suspense, too.

THE KILLING CODE is the first book I’ve ever read by Ellie Marney, and after reading it, I definitely want to read more. The historical setting felt immersive without being distracting, and the murder mystery had me hooked from that early chapter where Kit finds the girl’s body.

I loved that the girls use their codebreaking strategies as their approach to solving the murder. That connected both their identities as codebreakers as well as the historical and murder mystery story elements.

Also, each chapter of THE KILLING CODE begins with a quote about solving puzzles or codebreaking. Some of the quotes are from real codebreakers like Elizebeth Friedman. I thought the author cleverly used those quotes both in connecting the story to history and giving some teasing hints about the upcoming chapter.

All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. I definitely got caught up in the mystery and the high stakes race to find the serial killer before he strikes again.

Content Notes

Content warning for mentions of rape and attempted assault. Characters smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Point-of-view characters are white. Both are women who’ve had romantic relationships with women.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mentions of rape. When Kit sees the body of a murdered girl, she realizes the girl has also been raped. No details. Some scenes show kissing between two girls. In one scene, a murdered threatens women, clearly intending to rape and kill them.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A man attacks women, using a knife to threaten and harm them. A serial killer has been murdering women in the DC area. One murder scene is described.

Drug Content
Moya smokes cigarettes. The girls drink alcohol together in Moya’s room and at a club and hotel party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE KILLING CODE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood

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Great or Nothing
Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood
Delacorte Press
Published March 8, 2022

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About Great or Nothing

In the spring of 1942, the United States is reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor. While the US starts sending troops to the front, the March family of Concord, Massachusetts grieves their own enormous loss: the death of their daughter, Beth.

Under the strain of their grief, Beth’s remaining sisters fracture, each going their own way with Jo nursing her wounds and building planes in Boston, Meg holding down the home front with Marmee, and Amy living a secret life as a Red Cross volunteer in London–the same city where one Mr. Theodore Laurence is stationed as an army pilot.

Each March sister’s point of view is written by a separate author, three in prose and Beth’s in verse, still holding the family together from beyond the grave. Woven together, these threads tell a story of finding one’s way in a world undergoing catastrophic change.

A reimagining of Little Women set in the spring of 1942, when the United States is suddenly embroiled in the second World War, this story, told from each March sister’s point of view, is one of grief, love, and self-discovery.

My Review

I think the idea of this book is really cool. It seemed (I have zero experience to back this up) pretty thoroughly researched– there were lots of descriptions of clothes, food, and common words or phrases that either fit with other things I knew about the 1940s or felt pretty on point for what I expected from a story set in that era. There were also lots of references to historical facts and events, from the attack at Pearl Harbor to women working in factories and flying planes (not in combat).

So all that made the story feel really immersed in the time period, and I liked that. What I struggled with, though, is that sometimes I felt like the atmosphere or the setting dominated the story. This happened to me especially with Amy’s character, I think, but not exclusively. Her way of thinking and speaking was so steeped in lingo from the period that sometimes I just felt like I didn’t connect with her.

I thought the decision to tell the story beginning after Beth’s death but still include her as an observer was really interesting. Her chapters are written in verse, and often they add something to what’s happening with her sisters. Sometimes they reveal more things about who she was and her own hopes and dreams. I liked those moments a lot.

One of my favorite things about the book is that in this story, Jo finds another writer, a woman who’s goal is to be a war correspondent. They bond over challenges in their relationships with their sisters, writing, and being dissatisfied with what they’re told are the conventional roles of women. I think seeing the connection between those two as writers and women finding where they belong in the world made for a powerful story to read.

On the whole, I’m not sorry I read the book as there are several things I really enjoyed. It wasn’t what I expected, though.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Jo and Charlie are lesbians. One minor character is Japanese American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Joe, Meg, Amy, and Beth’s father is an Army Chaplain.

Violent Content
Some racist comments toward a Japanese American girl and about Japanese Americans. Some racist comments about Black soldiers. Two men get into a fight in a hotel ballroom.

Drug Content
Characters often drink champagne. Amy is underage at sixteen.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of GREAT OR NOTHING in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Elena the Brave by Julie Mathison

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Elena the Brave (Old Rus #2)
Julie Mathison
Starr Creek Press
Published March 1, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Elena the Brave

Old Rus, a land of witches and ogres, bogatyr warriors and six-headed dragons, magic and myth. A land lurking below the waking world, a fabled land – except for the chosen few.

It’s 1942, and the world is at war. Elena Petrovna Volkonsky is just a schoolgirl in a Pennsylvania steel town, the Russia of her forebears long forgotten – except in tales, sung by her babka in haunting tones. Elena can picture Old Rus clearly as she ponders her pet rock, its surface black and smooth, but its depths strange. Such visions! The snow-swollen Dnepr, wending southward through the wild steppe all the way to Byzantium. Vladimir of the Bright sun, ruling from glorious Kiev!. If only it were real. If only hers was not just an ordinary family in trying times. An ordinary family – with an extraordinary destiny.

Be careful what you wish for.

Meanwhile, Old Rus is in crisis. A dragon flies, a maiden is captured, and the great bogatyr, Dobrynya, is tasked with her rescue. But his son, Mitya, senses treachery on all sides. How can you save a man who will not save himself? And must he venture alone, trailing his father across the steppe where warring nomads range, even to the distant peaks of the Sorochinsk Mountains? He is prepared to do just that when a strange girl appears in the prince’s stables and upends all his plans.

What happens when two worlds – and hearts – collide?

My Review

I think the toughest thing about this book, for me, was reading it in the middle of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mitya lives in Kiev, and the city is part of Old Rus. So I felt like, for me right now, every time I read about Kiev (spelling from the book), I found myself thinking of Ukraine and the conflict happening there from Russia’s invasion. I’ve listed a couple of charities below for anyone interested in contributing aid.

ELENA THE BRAVE brings the same strong characters and rich landscape of folklore that VASILISA (Old Rus #1) delivered. I really enjoyed the connection between Mitya and his dad and exploring that complex relationship and the things he learned about himself through that journey.

I also loved Elena’s impulsivity and sense of humor. She often approached a conflict with an out-of-the-box idea which was just what the team needed. There were a couple of moments where I wondered if the book would wind up being more Mitya’s story, but Elena is every bit the heroine that having her name in the title implies she should be.

All in all, I feel like there’s a lot to love about this book and the series. I think fans of reimagined fairy tales or stories based on folklore will love ELENA THE BRAVE. Fans of TRAITOR’S MASQUE (another fairytale favorite of mine) definitely need to check out this series. Also, I would call this book more of a companion story than a straight up sequel. You don’t need to read VASILISA before reading ELENA THE BRAVE. (But they’re both really good.)

Support for Ukraine

If you’re active on social media, you’ve probably come across posts about reputable charities for donating money to support Ukrainians. Here are a couple more for you to consider:

Voice of Children provides psychological and psychosocial support for children affected by war. Their website lists some specific projects and ways they help. (Thank you, Beth Revis, for posting about this!)

World Central Kitchen is an organization that my family has supported, too. They’re currently working with restaurants in Ukraine to help provide meals for those who need them as well as feeding refugees fleeing into Poland. More information is available on their website, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Major characters are Russian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some magical elements and references to Russian folklore. Some characters worship a pantheon of old gods, but Christianity has been introduced in Old Rus. The prince and others worship one God.

Violent Content
Brief battle violence and situations of peril.

Drug Content
Some scenes show social drinking.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of ELENA THE BRAVE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye J Walton

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, , ,

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Leslye J. Walton
Candlewick Press
Published March 27, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Ava Lavender comes from a long line of peculiarly gifted women who’ve been unlucky in love. She relates her family history beginning with her great-grandparents and their journey from France to the United States in the early 1900s. Ava’s grandmother is the surviving member of her small family by the time she marries. Desperate to escape the bitter memories of her lost loved ones, Emiliene and her husband head west, finally settling in a small Washington town. Emiliene bears one child, Ava’s mother, before her husband dies. Each member of Emiliene’s family bears some peculiarity, and it seems Viviane, Emiliene’s child is no exception, when she is born with an incredibly keen sense of smell. But it is Ava, Viviane’s daughter who possesses the most notable peculiarity: she is born with wings.

Ava spends her young life sheltered in her grandmother’s home with her mother and twin brother and their live-in handyman. Gabe is determined to teach Ava to fly, and spends a great deal of time building flying contraptions so he can do just that. The only problem is that none of them seem to work. As Ava reaches her middle teen years, she begins to grow curious about the world outside her family’s home. As she begins to venture out, she must face the various ways people respond to her wings. She finds herself labeled both angel and demon, worshipped and hunted. As danger closes in around her, Ava’s brother (who appears to have some form of Autism) tries repeatedly to warn the family, but the message doesn’t at first make sense to them. Emiliene and Viviane must piece together the clues and find Ava before it’s too late.

The most striking thing about this novel is the style in which it is written. It’s very whimsical and a little bit dark, both quirky and hopeful. Each of the focal characters is expertly created and their stories deeply interesting. There are definitely some intense moments which make this a story better suited to older teens. Readers who enjoy stories in the vein of the movie Big Fish will enjoy this novel.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent but extreme.

Sexual Content
Brief references to sex, including references to a brother and sister who were rumored to be lovers and two men who are lovers. In one scene a man violently assaults a woman. Details of the attack are brief but brutal, and the progression of events is really choppy, making it difficult to tell what’s happening. The girl is raped. Details of the rape are very limited.

Spiritual Content
Emiliene is haunted by the ghosts of her deceased siblings and a former resident of her home. Rumor has it that a young girl living in sin attempted to receive communion and the host caught fire as it touched her mouth. This event occurs again featuring one of the main characters in the story.
Violence
See above for assault. Emiliene’s brother is shot in the face by his lover. His ghost bears the scars from his gruesome demise. Details are limited. One of Emiliene’s sisters dies by suicide when she removes her heart. Again, gruesome, but with limited details.

Drug Content
A young man drugs a relative in his care.

Disclaimer
I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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