Washington Post - Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2021
A Chicago Tribune Fall "Best Read"
“Poignant … Ken Krimstein’s latest book sketches a powerful portrait of Eastern European Jewish youths, full of angst and optimism, on the eve of the Holocaust.” Chicago Magazine
A moving work of literary archaeology, rescuing Jewish texts from the oblivion of history. Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
“Deeply affecting yet often joyful … … Krimstein’s loose-lined drawings shift between sobriety and humor, while footnotes provide context … By depicting the personalities of youth lost—with easy beauty and a lack of preciosity—rather than how they died, Krimstein conveys the depth of human and cultural loss that much more profoundly.” Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
“Readers will leave this book with a sense of gratitude for Krimstein’s innovative vision of a time and place, rescued from oblivion.” Emily Schneider, Jewish Book Council
Unflinchingly examining gender and class bias, spiritual beliefs, political affiliations, the conflict between faith and worldly love, these mesmerizing accounts reflect the young writers’ deep commitment to depicting the Jewish experience as hauntingly complex and endlessly vital. — Thúy Ðinh, writer and book critic NPR, 100 Notable Reads of 2021
Reviews from Goodreads members
12/23/2021 by Zoe Frichter:
I finished this book in one sitting and immediately consider it among the best I have read in my life. I am so grateful to read their autobiographies; I felt each story viscerally. Throughout my formal education, I was taught Jewish history in Europe, the Before, but I never felt myself as experiencing the vibrancy or culture of a shtetl in Yiddishuania until now. A must-read for every single Jew, teenager, adult, human.
12/30/2021 by Steph:
The story of how these texts, hidden upon the invasion of Poland in 1939, were hidden and saved until just a few years ago, is breathtaking and worth reading for that alone. But it’s also a moving portrait of a particular time and a bittersweet reminder that some things about being a teenager don’t change. I love books like this and A Bintel Brief, slices of Yiddish culture, a world that is the same and different all at once.
1/10/2022 by Alicia:
This book is a treasure. The teenagers and young adults whose autobiographies were included are vibrant and compelling. The darkness of knowing what likely happened to these six people hangs over the vibrancy of their youth, but doesn't smother it. Krimstein's art is the balance between these two dichotomies, using a bright orange with heavy black lines.
This book has earned a place on my shelf beside Maus and The Diary of a Young Girl. Please give this a read, it is quite possibly one of the most important books of our time.
1/12/2022 by Sonia Schoenfield:
In the 1930s a Yiddish institute in what is now Lithuania decided to study the lives of teenagers by holding an autobiography-writing contest with a substantial monetary prize. The winner was to be announced on September 1, 1939, which was the day that Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began. Nothing would ever be the same for the more than 700 teenagers who sent in their essays. In fact, most of them would not survive the war. But their writings did, thanks to several "heroes" that the author acknowledges in the Preface. Six of these stories are shared, revealing the lives, hopes and dreams of the writers. Their stories are heartbreaking, funny, touching, powerful. Definitely worth reading.