Courage to Dream

August 15, 2023
Answering a call to witness, Shusterman offers five original tales of Jews resisting and escaping Nazis with help from miracles, wonders, and legends. Inspired by actual examples of aid and rescue recounted in brief between each story, the author celebrates courage in the face of brutality and terror--beginning with a group of orphaned children in Hamburg narrowly escaping a Nazi roundup through a window in their apartment that becomes a portal to a peaceful world. There are also striking tales of a golem at Auschwitz, resistance fighters freeing a train of captives with help from Baba Yaga and the people of Chelm, and a teenager who wields the staff of Moses to raise a bridge of sunken boats, helping Danish Jews escape across the �resund strait to Sweden. In a pointed final story, an American child passes back and forth between this time and an alternate present in which the Holocaust never happened, but antisemitic violence is ominously on the rise. Noting the influence of Marvel Comics on his work, Mart�nez offers clean-lined period scenes of ordinary-looking heroes enduring fear and hardship, and "fighting for justice on every page." Resonating with an earlier acknowledgment that Roma and other minorities also suffered Nazi persecution, Mart�nez finds common personal ground in his own Tejano family's experiences with white supremacists. Moving examples of the power of culture and folklore to offer help, hope, and inspiration to act. (photo credits, author's notes, illustrator's note, bibliography, note on Hebrew letters) (Graphic fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 4, 2023
Shusterman (I Am the Walrus) and Martinez (Little White Duck) deploy a mixture of fantasy and history to reimagine elements of the Holocaust in this uneven graphic novel. Throughout five interconnected stories, some of which are inspired by actual events, the creators showcase a spectrum of landscapes and situations. Narratives include an interpretation of the golem’s origins set in Auschwitz, and a story set in a contemporary American home where a conch shell seems to be a portal to an alternate history in which Hitler won. One entry, “Spirits of Resistance,” is set in the Belarusian woods and stars folktale witch Baba Yaga, who summons her minions—including the great bird Ziz as well as Izbushka, a hut on towering chicken legs—to help a band of Jewish resisters. This standout chapter bursts with fierce energy, and foregrounds the characters’ agency in overcoming an apparent hopeless situation. Other entries feature visual drama and effective tension-building, portrayed in a comics style reminiscent of the 1950s and teeming with fantastical elements, as when a trio of siblings manage to evade capture by Nazis when the world outside their hiding place morphs into an interstellar landscape. Ages 12–up. Author’s agent: Andrea Brown, Andrea Brown Literary.

Starred review from September 1, 2023
In this innovative book, five stories, all in graphic format, address aspects of the Holocaust and incorporate fantasy elements, including some, aptly, from Jewish and Eastern European folklore. A golem resists the guards in Auschwitz. Baba Yaga and the fools of Chelm build a bridge for children hiding from the "nasties." Generations later, a teen gets a chance to see what the world would have looked like if the Holocaust hadn't occurred. Informational spreads following most stories provide historical and, when relevant, folkloric context. Amid the brutality depicted, the creatively applied magical elements give power back to characters persecuted by the Holocaust. The muted palette of the panel illustrations changes slightly with each tale, and the varied layouts keep the momentum going. Back matter includes notes from Shusterman (Challenger Deep, rev. 3/15, and many other novels) and Martinez (Little White Duck, rev. 9/12), a bibliography, and spiritual interpretations of the Hebrew letters that open each story. Shoshana Flax

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
In this innovative book, five stories, all in graphic format, address aspects of the Holocaust and incorporate fantasy elements, including some, aptly, from Jewish and Eastern European folklore. A golem resists the guards in Auschwitz. Baba Yaga and the fools of Chelm build a bridge for children hiding from the "nasties." Generations later, a teen gets a chance to see what the world would have looked like if the Holocaust hadn't occurred. Informational spreads following most stories provide historical and, when relevant, folkloric context. Amid the brutality depicted, the creatively applied magical elements give power back to characters persecuted by the Holocaust. The muted palette of the panel illustrations changes slightly with each tale, and the varied layouts keep the momentum going. Back matter includes notes from Shusterman (Challenger Deep, rev. 3/15, and many other novels) and Martinez (Little White Duck, rev. 9/12), a bibliography, and spiritual interpretations of the Hebrew letters that open each story.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2023

Gr 7 Up-This work of graphic fiction uses an anthology of fantastic tales to explore the horrors of the Holocaust. Shusterman creates stories that engage and educate young readers about Nazi persecution of the Jewish people. He writes in the dedication, "This book is about impossible and wondrous things that never happened, set against a backdrop of impossible, unthinkable things that did." The first story begins with a tale of young children hidden for safety behind a bookshelf, who escape through a portal to a peaceful world. Next is a very Marvel-inspired story of a Golem of Auschwitz, and then a tale of Baba Yaga and mythical creatures forming a resistance force in a deep, dark wood. The fourth is a Moses-inspired story of rescue and daring, followed by a final story about a young American girl and a terrible alternative future. The illustrations are reminiscent of early Marvel comic books. There are plenty of details that will draw the eye, like Baba Yaga's flying cauldron, but plenty of action to move the plot forward. VERDICT A nice addition to any teen graphic fiction collection.-Meaghan Nichols

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2023
Grades 7-12 Shusterman has been known for breaking conventions of genres throughout his career, and his latest, a series of short stories on the Holocaust rendered in comics panels, is no exception. Drawing upon characters from traditional Jewish stories, like Moses or the Golem, Shusterman uses their powers to disrupt the Nazi machine and save people from the Holocaust; these superpowers mirror the real-life heroics of Jews who saved others during the war. Each story ends with an author's note and photos to explain the parallels to history, making it a great resource for lessons on WWII. The last story, in which a young girl meets her family and cousins who would have been born had there been no Holocaust, feels particularly haunting and pressing. The naturalist artwork does a decent job telling the story and relaying the emotions, but it feels rather safe in comparison to the dynamic genre-blending in Shusterman's writing. Overall, this is an enlightening read on a perennially important topic.

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