18 May / Resistance: Book 1 by Carla Jablonski, illustrated by Leland Purvis, color by Hilary Sycamore
Here’s something else that APAs and Jewish Americans have in common: we share the same heritage month! Yup, as of April 2006, May is not only our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but May is also Jewish American Heritage Month! Various stereotypes have long linked us together (i.e. Asians are the Jews of the East, etc. etc.), so how fitting to be headliners this month together …
In celebration, here’s a quick but resonating read about a trio of brave, headstrong kids who decide they can and must make a difference in a war they don’t understand.
It’s 1942 and most of France is occupied by the Nazi German army. Paul and Marie Tessier long for news of their missing father. Their closest friend, Henri Levy, is Jewish, which puts him in grave danger. While the Tessier family remains loyal to the Levys, the rest of the nervous village can no longer be trusted. When the Nazis arrive, the Levy parents suddenly disappear. Paul and Marie decide to help their friend Henri at all costs … and find unexpected, necessary assistance with the local Resistance supporters.
With a clear historical note to introduce the children’s story, Jablonski ensures that a frightening, chaotic time is carefully placed in context for even young readers. While the horror of the period is not ignored (a brutal murder occurs on a train journey), Jablonski and Purvis manage to balance the inevitable death and destruction with the age of their intended audience.
That the cover is marked with “Book 1,” means more volumes are clearly planned. Here’s to looking forward to further evidence that even the youngest fighters can and did make memorable, worthy, heroic history.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2010