Review by Booklist Review
This beautifully rendered graphic novel tells the story of Marianne, an elementary-age Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. She escapes to the relative safety of Britain on a kindertransporte, ending up in the Welsh countryside before the London Blitz. Marianne never gives up hope that she will be reunited with her parents. She writes them religiously and hangs on every word of incoming post from Germany. The sketchy, dark pencil artwork elevates the sense of dystopia that Marianne feels as she floats from one foster home to the next. Although the story addresses heavy elements of history (the Holocaust, systemic anti-Semitism, the separation of displaced families), it maintains an optimistic tone throughout. Marianne is a resilient and forgiving young woman. She sees past the faults and judgments of her foster families, focusing rather on her gratitude for their willingness to shelter her. This would make a gentle, highly visual addition to Holocaust curricula, or it could be an excellent tool for introducing xenophobia and refugee crises to upper-elementary and middle-grade readers.--Eathorne, Courtney Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Shoemaker's quiet, silvery-penciled panels soften this Holocaust narrative, a companion to Good-bye Marianne (2008). Eleven-year-old Marianne Kohn arrives in Great Britain with the Kindertransport, a rescue that shipped Jewish children out of Germany before the outbreak of WWII. Memories and nightmares of escalating hate under the Third Reich persist as she makes her way in a country that isn't entirely happy to have her. Her first foster mother, counting on free domestic help, cares only for appearances: "You have shamed me in front of everyone," she tells Marianne after the girl buys a pair of used shoes. Evacuated to rural Wales after the war begins (Shoemaker's maps help readers track the shifting locales), Marianne encounters outright bigotry ("Christ killer!" "Dirty spy!"), then stays with a couple whose own daughter has died, and who attempt, creepily, to remake Marianne into her image. Yet throughout, Marianne finds allies who guard, help, and advocate for her, and she is herself resourceful and brave. Miraculously, Marianne and her mother are reunited in the end. Though Holocaust stories are by definition horrifying, this one offers some hope. Ages 8-11. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-This follow-up to Watts's Good-bye Marianne is a fictionalized account inspired by the author's real-life experience with the Kindertransport, a heroic rescue operation that brought Jewish children to Great Britain prior to World War II. Eleven-year-old Marianne flees Austria, arriving in London in December 1938. Though she trusts her family's decision to send her away to safety, it doesn't make the process any less painful as she struggles to adjust to a new country and sponsors who never seem pleased with her. Cold Aunt Vera treats Marianne more like hired help than a guest, while Auntie Vi is overprotective and views her as a replacement for the daughter she recently lost. Her days pass in confusion, hurt, and sadness. Black-and-white pencil sketches reflect a mood of loneliness and the bleakness of the time period. With about six panels per page, it can be difficult to discern the action, given that the sketches are shadowy and individual features are very small and similar. The glossary, which defines terms associated with the Nazi Party and Welsh phrases that appear in text when Marianne must flee London late in the book, does a great job of explaining terms at an age-appropriate level without shying away from harsh truths. Though the conclusion may feel abrupt, middle grade readers will appreciate the happy ending. VERDICT A first purchase for collections that own Good-Bye Marianne and for libraries looking to expand their offerings on the experiences of refugees.-Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The Kindertransport was a rescue operation that evacuated children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia to the UK in the years just prior to World War II. While Marianne is fortunate to be one of the first couple of hundred children to arrive in London, she doesnt feel lucky. She is taken in by a wealthy woman who uses her as a maid. Then, too, she misses her mother terribly, and hopes they will be reunited at any moment. When war breaks out, Marianne is evacuated to Wales, where she lives with a grieving, overbearing family seeking only to replace their deceased daughter. There is a ray of hope at the end of the book; what might be viewed as a tidy conclusion to the narrative is a welcome relief in the Holocaust genre. Based on the authors novel Remember Me, this graphic novel captures the melancholy nature of the story--the isolation from, and longing for, the familiar comforts of home and family--through Shoemakers limited-palette, charcoal-hued illustrations. This sense is further underscored by the tight layout of the panels, divided neatly into various combinations of squares and rectangles, and by the angle of the proverbial camera lens, which seems to either offer a more panoramic wide-angle view or a slightly claustrophobic one hovering above the characters. jonathan hunt (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An 11-year-old Jewish girl travels alone from Berlin to Great Britain in the Kindertransport of 1938.In a follow-up to Good-bye Marianne (1998), Watts and Shoemaker continue their adaptation of Watts' 2000 novel, Remember Me. On the cover, a girl sits forlornly on a suitcase under the bold black title against a background of Nazi red. Endpapers offer a hopeful hint of her mother's soft embrace as she looks at the starry night sky. Sandwiched in between is a straightforward, first-person telling of Marianne Kohn's story as she holds out hope of a reunion with her parents. Author and illustrator show their collaborative finesse in a wonderfully rendered marriage between text and art. Nine chapters shape Marianne's journey, each beginning with a map on a stark black page that seems to loom over a year of wartime bleakness. Marianne is in the dark about her future, literally and figuratively. Fuzzily drawn, gray-toned panels make her fear and loneliness palpable. She's billeted in one unhappy situation after another in London and Wales, often with sponsors scornful of refugees. She's renamed by one woman who "wants me to call her Mother' and turn me into her dead child." Thought bubbles clearly convey Marianne's deepest concerns while she stumbles through conversations in English. A book that invites close reading, this will spark interest in the plight of all refugees. (glossary) (Graphic historical fiction. 10-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
