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A Bag Of Marbles (2013)

by Kris(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1467707007 (ISBN13: 9781467707008)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Graphic Universe

review 1: This graphic novel adaptation of a memoir serves to reveal a lesser-known aspect of the Jewish experience during WWII. A young boy living in occupied France must repeatedly avoid detection by the Nazis who will surely send him to a concentration camp if they discover that he is a Jew. Joseph and his family must lie about their background and depend on the kindness of strangers for their survival. This is an appealing text for students who find history and memoir boring – the illustrations brings the story and the drama of Joseph’s experience to life. Perhaps because this is a graphic novel adapted from a narrative text, it is often disjointed which can be challenging for students to understand independently. Putting much of the end material (including the map of Jose... moreph’s journey) at the beginning of the text would make it easier for readers to understand. Of course, spoiler material should remain at the end of the text. The recently published Odette’s Secrets covers similar territory, but from the perspective of a girl. The two could be companion texts, and The Diary of Anne Frank or Number the Stars would also be good related texts.
review 2: This is a graphic novel memoir based on the bestselling true story of Joseph Jaffo. It follows the boys over a lengthy period as their life in Paris changed due to the war around them and the infiltration of Nazi soldiers. As Jews they were being persecuted, though they were pretty much too young to fully understand. So when the two boys are sent on a journey to get to a free zone and find their elder brothers, they see it as kind of a game. Eventually reality hits and they grow up. I liked the way this was portrayed as I think it will appeal to middle-school and older aged kids. Particularly boys who may be reluctant to read, especially historical fiction or biography, will be drawn to this format and be able to learn from such an accessible graphic novel. The artwork was decent, but sometimes the faces were a little too skewed and were a bit creepy to me. less

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