Natan Sharansky: Freedom Fighter for Soviet Jews

by Blake Hoena, Daniele Dickmann (Illustrator)

Overview

This graphic novel biography is the story of Soviet Jewry “refusenik” and human rights activist Anatoly “Natan” Sharansky. Born in 1948 to a Jewish family in Ukraine, at that time part of the Soviet Union, he was arrested as a young man and later imprisoned for wanting to leave the Soviet Union and go to Israel. His struggle became the struggle of all Soviet Jews who wished to leave. With the help of his wife, many Jewish activists, and world leaders, he eventually succeeded in immigrating to Israel, paving the way for the release of other Soviet Jews who wished to live in freedom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728404684
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/2021
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.15(d)
Lexile:	GN700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Blake Hoena has written more than one hundred books for children, including an original graphic novel series, Eek & Ack, and graphic novel retellings of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Peter Pan. Blake lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, two dogs, two cats, and hundreds of comics.

Daniele Dickmann is a freelance artist with experience in advertising, movie production, and book illustration. He loves to draw historical stories because they give him a chance to study the personality of the past. Daniele lives and works in Rome, Italy.

Editorial Reviews

"The graph­ic nov­el for­mat makes it ful­ly acces­si­ble to young read­ers and gives the sto­ry the urgency it demands."— Leslie Kimmelman, Jewish Book Council

From the Publisher

2021-03-17
Stories about heroes are almost always a little sad.

Like many activists, Natan Sharansky was punished nearly every time he fought for the goals he believed in. He was accused publicly of espionage by the Soviet authorities and spent years in prison and in labor camps, separated from his wife. The saddest part is that, for many people, his goals would have qualified as ordinary life: He wanted to live in Israel and practice his religion in the open. He eventually won those rights for himself and other Soviet Jews. Even after being locked up for close to a decade and completing several hunger strikes, he still had a remarkable sense of humor. While the dialogue captures emotional tenors well throughout, the most memorable lines in this graphic biography are often jokes he made. When KGB agents followed him into a taxi, he asked if they’d split the cab fare, and after years of constant surveillance, he said, “It’s like I have two shadows: one that is mine, and the other the KGB’s.” The text in the panels’ narrative boxes is less engaging, often coming across as boilerplate, but the pictures help to capture Sharansky’s personality. Though the likenesses—especially the pictures of presidents—aren’t always convincing, some of the drawings are vivid enough to look nearly alive. The historical figures in the illustrations are almost all light-skinned Soviets, Israelis, and Americans.

This biography sometimes feels like a great song, so sad it can leave you joyous. (timeline, glossary, reading list, historical notes) (Graphic biography. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews