Belli i disegni, patetica la prefazione di Veltroni e risaputa la storia. ( )

I found this book a little dry, but loved the illustrations and the true story aspect behind the story. The story follows a families story of escaping Nazi authorities, finding each other, and how they kept love alive together even when they were forced apart. ( )

Jo and Maurice Joffo travel by foot, train and bus to Dax, Cripes, Marseille, Menton and Nice to escape Nazi occupation and join their brothers. Along the way they encounter Nazi authorities who demand to see their papers. Jo and Maurice manage to evade Nazi authorities by persuasion. Jo and Maurice reunite with their brothers and parents but find themselves separate once again.

An engaging, poignant graphic memoir about French Jewish children fleeing to Unoccupied France. Adapted from the French memoir by Joffo. ( )

This story based on the true story of Joseph Joffo, who was ten years old, who in 1941 was sent off with his older brother by his father, given fifty francs and instructions to flee Nazi-occupied Paris for unoccupied France. The story of their survival is amazing but this presentation of the story is not.

I was very disappointed with the language choices in this book and frankly I think younger readers would find it disappointing as well. It is not authentic and appears to be written in the hopes of attracting a specific age of reader rather than to make great story that could be enjoyed by readers of any age. With phrases such as 'hop to it' 'don't have a fit' 'hold your horses' 'stop blubbering' 'you're gonna get it' and 'doorbell ditches' set against the backdrop of 1941 Paris, the symmetry is severely lacking. It is difficult to imagine YA readers buying in without realizing the graphic has been dumbed down.

I was however very impressed with the graphic art itself. The street scenes, characters and situational depictions are beautifully done and integrated into an amazing journey of their own. I especially liked the graphics of the story within the story that the boys' father tells them at bedtime. The drawings are stylized to offset them from the main graphic novel content. It is a common technique but cleverly used here. ( )