A significant contribution to the history of the Holocaust.
Kor and Buccieri tell the story of how Kor and her twin sister survived Auschwitz; this new edition, published posthumously following Kor’s death in 2019, includes an extensive afterword.
In 1944, when Eva and her identical twin, Miriam, were 10, their family of six was taken from their small Romanian village and sent to Auschwitz. Upon their arrival at the camp, Eva and Miriam were separated from their family, whom they never saw again. Twin children and teens arriving at Auschwitz were selected by Dr. Josef Mengele, known as the Angel of Death, to be used as test subjects in his scientific experiments. In straightforward language the book relates the twins’ daily routines, including lab experiments and occasions on which they suffered serious brushes with death as the result of injections they were given. Many of the memories related come across as rough sketches, though some graphic details are included. Following their liberation from Auschwitz in 1945, Eva goes on to chart their path back to Romania, from there to Israel, and finally her immigration to America, where she became an outspoken advocate and organizer for Holocaust remembrance. The afterword provides more background and insight into the last decade of Kor’s life and her controversial decision to forgive the Nazis as an act of personal healing.
A significant contribution to the history of the Holocaust. (afterword, author's note, photo credits, additional resources) (Memoir. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-939100-45-0
Page Count: 215
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way.
Navigating high school is hard enough, let alone when your parents are CIA spies.
In this graphic memoir, U.S. citizen Glock shares the remarkable story of a childhood spent moving from country to country; abiding by strange, secretive rules; and the mystery of her parents’ occupations. By the time she reaches high school in an unspecified Central American nation—the sixth country she’s lived in—she’s begun to feel the weight of isolation and secrecy. After stealing a peek at a letter home to her parents from her older sister, who is attending college in the States, the pieces begin to fall into place. Normal teenage exploration and risk-taking, such as sneaking out to parties and flirtations with boys, feel different when you live and go to school behind locked gates and kidnapping is a real risk. This story, which was vetted by the CIA, follows the author from childhood to her eventual return to a home country that in many ways feels foreign. It considers the emotional impact of familial secrets and growing up between cultures. The soft illustrations in a palette of grays and peaches lend a nostalgic air, and Glock’s expressive faces speak volumes. This is a quiet, contemplative story that will leave readers yearning to know more and wondering what intriguing details were, of necessity, edited out. Glock and many classmates at her American school read as White; other characters are Central American locals.
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way. (Graphic memoir. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45898-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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