Customer Reviews

Resistance: Book 1

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Paul and Marie Tessier live in a small village in southern France during World War II. While not officially occupied by Germany, Germans are all around them. They worry for their Jewish friend Henri. Then Henri's parents go missing while he is away from home, and Paul and Marie find themselves hiding their friend while becoming a small part of the French Resistance.

Resistance, Book 1 by Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis is the first in a series of three graphic novels for young adults. It does an excellent job portraying the confusion, fear and uncertainty that were all part of everyday life at the time. Even young children saw friends turn on each other, and they had a hard time knowing who they could confide in. Members of the Resistance took great risks upon themselves and their families to do what they considered to be right. Strict secrecy meant sometimes even family members didn't know they were each involved.

So many books about World War II are written for adults; Resistance, Book 1 should be a great book to introduce this historical event to young adults. The images enrich the story beautifully and help keep the action moving along. The author's note at the back gives a brief description of the Resistance in France that should help fuel discussions. Issues include looking at war-time realities, deciding how much you are willing to risk to help your friends, and determining what you will do to resist something you consider wrong. I highly recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 13 and up.

My sons opinion: I got this book from my school library one day just because I liked the look of a kid pelting a Nazi in the back of the head with a slingshot. I started to read and after only the first three pages, I was hooked. The characters were great (A french family and one of their friends), the setting was good, but the big downside was that the ending has no action whatsoever. Earlier in the book the SS shoot a man with a pistol and kill him, but later at the end they simply meet the friends parents, pass off some papers, than leave Paris for home. It would have been better with some shooting and a bigger death toll. Other than this flaw, I would suggest getting this book from a local library, but don't buy it. It's not worth it.

Read so I could bring to school and have my middle school students read. It is a good introduction to WWII and the holocaust

Paul and Marie, two French children, live in a small village in the French Free Zone during World War II. Their father is being held by the Germans, and they worry about his whereabouts and his welfare throughout the book. In addition, they are extremely worried about their Jewish friend, Henri, whose parents go missing suddenly and mysteriously. While trying to hide him, they are recruited into the French Resistance movement. They bond with Resistance members and experience human personality quirks they might not have been exposed to had the times been normal. Even in the Resistance there is bravery, and at the same time there is pettiness. The story contains suspense, secret codes, and elements of spy stories, as our protagonists work on tricking the German occupiers. Throughout this graphic novel, Paul's sepia-toned drawings are interspersed with the illustrator's color illustrations. His pictures form a visual thread that readers can use to follow the action. A two-page Author's Note explains the French Resistance and contains an overview of free and occupied France during World War II. This book is the first volume of a projected trilogy. Grades 7 and up. Shelly Feit

Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.

The book starts with a one-page non-fiction narrative that places our story in history. We are told how France was invaded, occupied, surrendered and the results of this. The graphic story focuses on a French family living in Vichy, the 'free' part of France, a mother, two daughters and a son, the father is off fighting in the war and no word has been heard since France's surrender. One by one we learn how certain members of this family and village are part of the French resistance and when one of them learns that the children are hiding a Jew in their wine caves he enlists their help thinking children will make perfect resistance members as they will not be suspect.

The book is quite dark emotionally. We see images that hint at the horrors going on and some brutal events do happen but it is the looks of outrage and fear on the children's faces that truly brings the emotions to the reader. The story involves the round-up of Jews in their village and the children's mission as resistance fighters. It is exciting and full of fear at the same time. The book does a good job of bringing the reality of living in an occupied country to the reader. There are a few instances when the plot is a little too unbelievable, someone just happens to turn up in the nick of time at the place where they were looking, that sort of thing. But otherwise, a compelling story which takes an interesting stand in it's two-page non-fiction conclusion where it explains the French Resistance and whether participating or not participating should ever be reason for judging someone.

Resistance, the first in a new trilogy of graphic novels about the French Resistance during World War II is a worthy addition not only to graphic novel collections but also to the wealth of Holocaust literature for children and teens.

The author opens the story by providing some necessary historical background on the Nazi innovation of France in 1940 and the subsequent division of the country into Occupied France, run directly by the Nazis, and "Free France," run by the Vichy government, who collaborated with the Nazis. Paul, a budding artist, his sister, Marie, and his mother live at the Hotel Tessier; Paul's father is a prisoner-of-war. Paul's own drawings, with ragged edges that make it look as if they were torn straight from his sketchpad, provide a running commentary on the plot, and are interspersed with the story panels, offering his personal insights into the characters he encounters.

However, Paul's problems are nothing compared to those of his friend Henri Levy, a Jew who they hide in their wine caves when the Nazis take over their hotel. As the Nazis begin deporting Jews and closing Jewish businesses in the Occupied Zone in 1942, Paul, Marie and the other children in the town struggle to understand what is going on. "Is it bad to be Jewish?" Marie asks her brother. "Of course not," he replies, but he's unable to explain to her why the Jews are being taken away.

When Paul learns of the secret Resistance movement fighting in many ways against the Nazis, he wants to help. While initially he's told he's too young, the local leader realizes that young children could be perfect for transporting information, since no one would suspect them. Soon they are given a test, to see if they are trustworthy. Paul's drawing talent even comes in handy, when he is asked to draw vehicles the Nazis have at the hotel and anything that they install on the grounds. Quickly they are entrusted with a dangerous mission--transporting information to Paris right under the Germans' noses--and helping their Jewish friend Henri locate his parents. The suspense builds on the train ride, as violence erupts. Will Marie and Paul be able to complete their first mission successfully?

Jablonski does a terrific job in recreating the confusion and moral ambiguity of the period. In a thoughtful Author's Note at the conclusion of the story, she discusses the role of ordinary people who took action against the Germans to liberate France. However obvious right and wrong seems to us now, Jablonski points out that there "are different versions of 'the truth,'...History as lived is anything but clear!...what seems obvious to us now was probably not at all obvious to anyone then." She emphasizes the difficulty of making choices--even if that choice was doing nothing. Purvis' illustrations, ranging from his grim depictions of Nazi roundups and deportations, colored in dark tones of blue and gray, to the angst-filled expressions on the passengers' faces while having their documents inspected by Nazi soldiers on the trains, greatly enhance the suspense and drama of the story.

In 1942, Paul and his little sister Marie live in the unoccupied region of France. Even though the Germans are supposedly not in control of their part of the country, the people in that region still face food shortages and other hardships. Paul and Marie's father is a prisoner of war to the Germans and their friend Henri and his parents live in fear because they are Jewish. When those fears come true and Henri's parents are taken away, Paul and Marie decide to hide their friend. Soon all three are determined to do more than just hide in fear--they join the Resistance.

The effectively eye-catching cover of this gripping historical fiction title almost makes joining the Resistance seem like a game, but the story inside shows readers that it was a hard decision for anyone to make, especially two young teens and a grade-schooler. Paul, Marie, and Henri are brave and determined, but they are also scared--exactly like the adults around them. It is showing readers how they move past that fear into action that makes this book a thought-provoking read. Jablonski doesn't make the mistake of having the children act like mini adults. They bicker, cry, and complain, just like normal kids their age. But they are also tired of being pushed around, as kids often are, and they decide to act. The adults around them can see the advantages to using children, even though some are more reluctant to do so than others. Ultimately, though, what is best for the cause is what is decided upon and so the kids can join. Their tasks aren't flashy, they don't wave around guns or anything like that, but what they do is still dangerous, deadly, and exciting to read about.

Purvis, no stranger to historical fiction graphic novels for teens (he illustrated two of Simon & Schuster's Turning Points series), is at his most serious here, but he doesn't neglect artistry. Paul is an artist and his drawings permeate this story, complete with the ragged edges where they appear torn from his sketchpad. Sometimes those drawings reflect what is going on around him, but often they give readers a glimpse into his thoughts about what he is experiencing. It's a much more effective technique than merely telling readers and fits perfectly with a boy who is more comfortable drawing than working with words. The rest of the drawings in the book are careful not to make anything too perfect or too clean. Purvis has a thin-lined, loose style of drawing that is excellent at bringing his characters and settings to life, especially when he varies perspective within the panels. Hilary Sycamore's colors capture the freshness of a French vineyard and the horrors of a Nazi deportation.


One death at the hands of soldiers is the extent of the violence, though there is some fighting, mostly between the children of the village, but nothing is beyond the appropriate level for a middle school library. Jablonski's author's note at the end offers some more information about the French Resistance and asks her audience hard questions about how they would act if they found themselves in Paul, Marie, and Henri's situation. It's a perfect end to an excellent book. Classes studying World War II will want to add this to their reading list and it is a good read-alike for books like Number the Stars.
-- Snow Wildsmith