Resistance (Book 1) by Carla Jablonski (Illustrated by Leland Purvis)
Review by: Chris Singer
About the author:
Carla Jablonski is a novelist, performer, and playwright. She has written dozens of best-selling books for teenage and middle-grade readers.Her fiction has been translated into ten languages, and her plays have been performed in New York, Philadelphia, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Her most recent books Thicker than Water and Silent Echoes were selected for the New York Public Llibraries "Books for the Teen Age" list.
About the illustrator:
Leland Purvis is a self-taught comics artist and writer. His major works include the anthology VOX, a creator-owned series called PUBO, and a graphic-novel biography of physicist Niels Bohr, Suspended In Language, written by Jim Ottaviani. Recent works include graphic novels in the Turning Points series from Simon & Schuster. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife, a cat, and a turtle.
About the book:
Fighting on a secret front of World War II, Paul and Marie’s bucolic French country town is almost untouched by the ravages of WWII, but the siblings still live in the shadow of war. Their father is a Prisoner of War, kept hostage by the Germans. When their friend Henri’s parents disappear and Henri goes into hiding because of his Jewish ancestry, Paul and Marie realize they must take a stand. But how can they convince the French Resistance that even children can help in their fight against injustice?
Resistance is the first voulme of a trilogy written by acclaimed teen author Carla Jablonski and illustrated by Leland Purvis.
My take on the book:
This is a really good introduction for middle school readers about life during the Nazi occupation of France. The beauty of the story is Jablonski's choice to tell the story from the point-of-view of children. She does an excellent job of portraying the characters of Paul, Marie and Henri. Though often brave in their participation with the Resistance, you also see them squabble, bicker, complain and cry --- just like your average kid. It's the realistic portrayal of the children which I really appreciated. Although the children become part of the Resistance and are taking part in dangerous activities, you don't see them acting like mini-adults. You see their weaknesses but also see the skills they bring to the Resistance (For example, Marie has an excellent memory and is very observant while Paul is a talented artist).
Jablonski also does an excellent job of portraying the underlying tensions of life under occupation, where you're never exactly sure who you can trust and once-trusted friends may now be your enemy. This aspect of the book is particularly compelling and I think a really good introduction for students about the idea of what exactly living under occupation is and how different life would be without freedom.
There's a wealth of points throughout the story which would make for excellent discussion in a classroom including asking students how much they would be willing to risk to help their friends? Their neighbors? Their community? I think asking students to brainstorm ways they could resist something they disagreed with would make for an interesting talk as well.
The illustrations by Purvis complement the story very nicely. The expressions of the characters in the story are very telling throughout the story often giving us a sense of anxiety and suspense. The wrap-around cover is fantastic and the cover itself is brilliant. I did stumble though at times while reading as I had some difficulty with the visual grammar. I had to go back at times to re-read to make sure I was getting the story.
All in all this was an excellent read and I would have really liked to have been exposed to something like this during history class in middle school. I look forward to the next two books in the trilogy.
Sample from the book:
