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Late one night a young girl coaxes a long silenced memory from her grandmother’s childhood. Thus unravels the tale of Dounia, a young Jewish girl living in France, in a Holocaust story set amid the German occupation and French Resistance. Suddenly and inexplicably ostracized from her peers, Dounia endures ridicule at school, separation from her family and home, the rejection of her identity, and the uncertainty of ever again seeing her parents.
Loic Dauvillier’s graphic novel Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust is a story of injustice, fear, bewilderment, and cruelty. And yet it is also one of compassion, bravery, perseverance, and hope; through the determined efforts of French Resistance groups, many Jewish children like Dounia were clandestinely transported to relative safety.
As a Holocaust story told to child from a child’s limited perspective the narrative is surprisingly gentle for its subject matter. The illustrations are appealing, if slightly cartoonish, and the text never overwhelms the page.
An illuminating and worthwhile read for grades 3-6.
A review by Theresa from the Central Library:
Before the war started Hannah, the youngest daughter in the
family, was well on her way to become a famous concert pianist. She was also
living the life of an average fifteen-year-old girl and about to experience her
first date and dance. But for her and her family everything changed abruptly
when the Second World War started in Europe because they were not only living
in a country at war, they were Jews. Moved from the only home she had ever
known into a small apartment in an area just for Jews and forced to wear a
yellow star on her clothing, all the familiar things from her life started
disappearing.
Suzy Zail tells this story of a young girl caught in a terrible
moment in history in her book Playing for the Commandant. The story though is
not just one of many holocaust stories, it has a bit of a twist as Hannah ends
being sent to play for the camp commandant every day and while in his home
becomes friends with his son Karl. While the harsher elements of this brutal
period are less prominent than in other holocaust tales, this story is a good
place to start.
For grades 5-8
