2022-10-26
A girl imprisoned in Auschwitz works secretly as a librarian in this graphic-novel adaptation of Iturbe’s celebrated 2017 work.
Based on the real story of Edita Kraus, who as a young teenager worked in a forbidden school within Auschwitz, the book follows Dita, an ordinary, book-loving Jewish Czech girl whose world is turned upside down when the Nazis arrive. Yellow stars and school closures come first, then deportation to Terezín and from there to Auschwitz. Though Auschwitz is an extermination camp, Dita and her family experience something resembling luck: They’re sent to BIIb, the family camp, where the Nazis temporarily keep Jews alive so they can perpetuate the lie that prisoners are being treated humanely. There, Dita secretly shepherds the few smuggled books into the hands of teachers and students. The prose, translated from Spanish, is flavorless; the heavy emotional lifting relies on the visuals. While the composition of the art works perfectly in some scenes (Dita’s first glimpse of Auschwitz, for example), the images are sometimes too cheery. Characters look almost adorable even when they’re starving in Bergen-Belsen, and only a few spreads grapple with the horrific conditions. A historical note provides some context.
Accessible but visually too upbeat for the subject, this is best paired with other Holocaust resources. (Graphic novel. 9-12)
★ 08/28/2017
Drawing on his own interviews with Holocaust survivor Dita Kraus, who now lives in Israel, Spanish author Iturbe describes the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau in unflinching, straightforward prose (smoothly translated by Thwaites) that reflects his journalism background. A fierce lover of books, 14-year-old Dita helps out in the makeshift school of Block 31, the children’s block in the family camp, and volunteers to take care of eight precious but forbidden books, risking certain death if she were to be found out. The role of librarian for Block 31’s tiny collection gives Dita a sense of purpose in a bleak camp where death, torture, and humiliation are omnipresent. As Dita’s story unfolds, alternating between her present circumstances at the camp and her memories of Prague and the ghetto of Terezín (“a city where the streets led nowhere”), Iturbe interweaves the names and stories of other survivors and victims of Auschwitz, turning the narrative into a monument of remembrance and history. All but guaranteed to send readers searching for more information, this is an unforgettable, heartbreaking novel. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)
"This powerful young adult novel introduces listeners to 14-year-old Dita Kraus, a Czechoslovakian Jew who, with her parents, was sent to Auschwitz in December 1943. Through meticulous research, including multiple correspondences with Dita, Antonio Iturbe paints an accurate picture of life in Auschwitz in all its horror. Marisa Calin's narration straightforwardly tells this chilling but ultimately inspiring story with an unemotional delivery that emphasizes the amazing strength, hope, and courage that sustained the prisoners of Auschwitz in the face of incredible inhumanity and deprivation." -AudioFile
"Marisa Calin does a fine job narrating a heart-wrenching story told entirely through the observations of an innocent young girl. And [Antonio] Iturbe's proclivity for creating suspense will keep you listening. The book also qualifies as riveting and valuable reading for young adults." - Inside Jersey
"Narrator Marisa Calin provides an understandable, yet well-accented dialogue of Jewish, Polish, and German voices for the participants in this novel. A shocking, moving, unforgettable, yet wonderful story, this book carries a powerful message of a dark period of world history. The Librarian of Auschwitz should be required reading for every high school student and adult." -SoundCommentary
"an unforgettable, heartbreaking novel." —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on The Librarian of Auschwitz
"Like Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, it’s a sophisticated novel with mature themes, delivering an emotionally searing reading experience. An important novel that will stand with other powerful testaments from the Holocaust era." —Booklist, starred review, on The Librarian of Auschwitz
"This novel is one that could easily be recommended or taught alongside Elie Wiesel’s Night and The Diary of Anne Frank and a text that, once read, will never be forgotten. VERDICT A hauntingly authentic Holocaust retelling; a must for YA collections." —School Library Journal, starred review, on The Librarian of Auschwitz
"Though no punches are pulled about the unimaginable atrocity of the death camps, a life-affirming history." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on The Librarian of Auschwitz
12/01/2022
Gr 9 Up—Based on Iturbe's novelization of Dita Kraus's experiences during World War II, this graphic novel details Kraus's early life in Czechoslovakia, her love of reading, and the unusual existence of a family camp and classroom (of sorts) for children within Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Kraus and her family arrived in 1942. The first half of the book also establishes the teen's precarious responsibility as keeper of the camp's eight prized but forbidden volumes, and the threats, terror, and trauma of life in the camp where hundreds were sent to the gas chambers daily. Dialogue bubbles and text boxes, along with striking, purely visual panel sequences and full-page images, advance the story. The second half of the book moves at a quicker pace, reducing some events to cursory (and potentially confusing) treatment. The illustrated epilogue, which offers additional information about Adolf Hitler's objectives and a few of the individuals featured in the book, will help answer some questions readers may have. Sepia tones that evoke the era dominate the opening pages, while scenes in shadowy blue gray emphasize the dangerous, clandestine nature of much of the activity at the camp. Red enters as the background color when Nazi soldiers appear or pure panic sets in. Included is an image of a mass grave, and others of naked prisoners being led to the gas chambers. VERDICT Along with memoirs or nonfiction histories, this book may serve Holocaust units, and discussions about the history of restricting access to books, especially where differentiated materials are needed.—Daryl Grabarek