Hidden by Loic Dauviller, Greg Salsedo & Illus by Marc Lizano

Did you know yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day? I didn't know either, but I saw it somewhere. 

I tend to think of graphic novels as a less than serious medium, but it works. I have to say that graphic novels are still not my preferred format. I really love words and the graphic novel format doesn't give authors the opportunity to really wallow in words. 

But as someone who learned to read with Donald Duck and perfected the art with Tintin, I really can't discourage students from checking them out non-stop. 

And this book is a great example of how powerful graphic novels can be. 

This is a backwards looking book--it begins with a little girl cuddling into her grandmother during the night. 

And grandmother, Dounia, starts to tell her her story. 

Of life before the Holocaust and how things changed after the "star" was forced on them. Her father told her she got to be a sheriff like in the American West, that is why she wore a star. Her mother was upset about the star, but 

But noone else thought her sheriff's star was fun.

And her teacher was mean to her for no reason. 

Finally another Jew told her it was not a sheriff's star, but an indicator of their less than social status. 

Love in uncertain times.

And then the Nazis came.

Dounia is carefully hid and after the Nazis have left, the downstairs neighbor comes to find her. 

Her star was cut off and thrown in the fire. Dounia became a temporary Gentile.

Her new "parents" tell her she has to leave the building. Dounia is convinced staying where her parents can find her is the only way to reconnect with her parents. But she doesn't have an option. 

A dramatic exit and a traitorous neighbor

And a new life as mother and daughter.

Life in the country eventually helps Dounia smile again.

Time passes on the farm

But always, they look for news of Dounia's parents.

And.... you will have to read the book to find out the rest. 

And at the end, you find that Dounia had never been able to talk to her own children about her experiences, so through telling her granddaughter about her experience, her son finally learns about those years in his mother's life. 

A sweet look at how life moves on after hardship and how healing it can be to have no secrets from your loved ones.