BIBLIOGRAPHY
Spiegelman, Art. 1986. MAUS: A SURVIVORS TALE. New York. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-74723-2.
PLOT SUMMARY
Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish Holocaust survivor’s story is told through a comic book format as he recounts his life in surviving Hitler’s war. His son, Art the cartoonist, tells his father’s history while coming to terms with their relationship and history.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The survival story told through graphic novel comic book format tells the real events of a Holocaust survivors' trials and tribulations to escape and how that life followed them to their life in America. In telling the story of the Holocaust, Art Spiegelman portrays the Jews as the mice and Nazis as cats. The story sets place in Vladek’s New York apartment, Art writes his father's life story and guides his father along, asking year by year to write it chronologically, which the story follows. The drawings are detailed and complement the story with realism of emotion. The story's readability is appropriate for Young Adults as it has a clear transition from chapter to chapter. The history of World War II is present throughout, described through Vladek’s personal memories and details of the illustrations of the war, signs of empty promises and traps and newspapers of the times. The information is not too much, but it is interesting to read because of the comic book format which keeps the reader turning each page to look for details that encourage further reading.
EXCERPTS/ AWARDS
ALA Notable Children’s Books, 1995
Booklist, 08/01/97
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 1998
School Library Journal
CONNECTIONS
The comic book biography is a great read however it is more geared towards the older audience. The illustrations can be a bit much when portraying hangings.
Displaying this book with other biographies of survival in the holocaust would be a great way to showcase this unique style of history.
Displaying this book side by side with Maus II will invite readers to know there is more to this graphic novel and entice them to continue reading.
Spiegelman, Art. MAUS II: A SURVIVOR’S TALE: AND HERE MY TROUBLES BEGAN. ISBN 978-1-40462-911-0
Zelman, Leon. AFTER SURVIVAL: ONE MAN’S MISSION IN THE CAUSE OF MEMORY. ISBN 978-0-8419-1382-0
Bergman, Eugene. SURVIVAL ARTIST: A MEMOIR OF THE HOLOCAUST. ISBN 978-0-7864-4134-1
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