DEFIANCE

A sharp follow-up to Resistance (2010) takes place one year after French teenager Paul Tessier joined the Resistance and helped his Jewish friend Henri escape the Nazis.

With the Germans still occupying France, Paul’s village has hit hard times; there are sudden arrests, dwindling ration coupons and a general sense of distrust and fear among his peers. The Tessier patriarch is still a POW, and with his absence, the family grows ever more apprehensive. Paul’s artistic talent lands him in trouble’s way after he uses them to aid the Resistance. This act of defiance hurtles his two sisters, Sylvie and Marie, into a dangerous search to locate Paul and bring him home safely when they suspect he’s taken to the woods to join a group of radical Resistance fighters hiding in the mountains. Sylvie and young Marie find themselves on an extremely perilous mission; they are two young girls very much in a man’s world—and war. Stylistically tighter than the previous volume, this offering has clearly plotted word balloons against a brighter, less scratchy background. Jablonski adds an author’s note with a terse history of Charles DeGaulle, a helpful addendum that provides depth to the historical scope. Paul's tale does not resolve at story's close, leaving readers waiting for the third and final volume.

A crisp, edge-of-your seat historical tale. (Historical graphic fiction. 12 & up)