Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon, 1992)

GENRE: Graphic Novel - Memoir

HONORS: 1992 Eisner Award - Best Graphic Album: Reprint
1992 Harvey Award - Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work
1993 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
1993 Angoulême International Comics Festival Awards - Prize for Best Comic Book: Foreign comic
1993 Urhunden Prize

REVIEW: Art Spiegelman continues to interview his father's experiences as a survivor of the Holocaust, and it is in this second part that Art begins to feel some harsh guilt about his parent's past, as well as the present health and will of his father, Vladek. His father's narrative of the events leading to him and Anje's survival run in parallel to his current day behavior and senile attitude that burden Art and his girlfriend's stay with him. Spiegelman is able to elaborate on a very grim event by alternating scenes of the past and present. Art is often found as the one trying to get the facts straight, while his father is the one where readers see the emotion and trauma involved. The reader learns, not only about the torture and ruthless acts of genocide that the Jews had faced, but one also pick's up on Vladek's skill of using his congeniality to make connections and survive.

OPINION: MAUS is an absorbing take on such an unrelenting subject, but Spiegelman has made it deeply alluring to young readers through its presentation and pace.

IDEAS: A must read for a bibliography on the topic of the Holocaust or recommendation of non-fiction graphic novels.

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon, 1986)

GENRE: Graphic Novel, Historical - Holocaust

HONORS: 1992 Pulitzer Prize - Special Awards, and other international awards

REVIEW: In Maus I, Art Spiegelman, portrays his contemporary life as a cartoonist in New York who documents a story of his father's survival during the overtaking of Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II. Presented in comic book format, the story confronts serious issues concerning the annihilation of the Jewish race, the father's abrasive nature towards his second wife and those around him, as well as the events that lead to the suicide of his first wife and Art's mother, Anja. The characters portrayed in the comic provide a satirical tone to the story where felines are the Nazi's, pigs are the Polish, and mice are the Jews.

OPINION: An engrossing read that vividly captures the tracing of one’s family history. The story touches on how thousands of families were lead to concentration camps or to their deaths for their culture and identity. The comic format and rendered art is visually appealing and conveys a clear dialogue for young people to learn about the tragedy of the Holocaust without plowing through a history textbook.

IDEAS: A great addition to The Diary of Anne Frank, The Sunflower, and Night for high school curriculum about the Holocaust or for libraries to feature during the month of May, which is Jewish American Heritage Month.