the mice-men

Spiegelman, A. (1973). Maus. New York City: Pantheon Books, 159 pp.

Biography/graphic novel: 1988 Angoulême International Comics Festival Awards - Religious Award, 1988 Prize for Best Comic Book, 1988 Urhunden Prize, 1990 Max and Moritz Prize, and 1992 Pulitzer Prize

possible classroom uses: individual choice, small group, bridge to any holocaust literature

appropriate age: 7th-12th

Synopsis:
This is the story of an adult Jewish son interviewing his father about his experiences in the Holocaust. The biography records primarily the father's experiences in the Holocaust, but their interview dialogue is peppered throughout the novel. As a result, the reader comes a way with a personal testimony of the Holocaust and a clear understanding of this family's dynamics and history.

Evaluation:
The characters are all dynamic, and the subtlety of character depiction is amazing. The reader thinnks that he or she is just reading a recollection of the Holocaust with some added blurbs of interactions between father and son, but the reader actually stumbles into a second fully developed story between two complex characters. The plot is fully fleshed out and extremely intriguing. It is definitely unpredictable. The themes throughout the novel are family dynamics, oppression, and suffering. The setting is in Poland during the Holocaust and also New York City during the 1970's. Adolescents can relate to this novel because even as a man, Art is trying to earn and maintain independence from his father. This struggle to become your own person independent of your family is a desire and a struggle for all adolescents. This book refers to specific social and emotional development that adolescents endure. This book addresses mutlicultural issues such as race, ethnicity, language, age, and religion by validifying different ones as important personal attributes, but this book addresses gender and social class by promoting one over another.

Reaction:
Maus was wonderful! It was so realistic and fluid, even though it would change from current to past. The graphics really helped describe the scene and improved the reader’s understanding. The father’s and son’s interaction with one another was very believable and genuine. The use of broken English magnified the authenticity of the characters even more. This novel retold a famous, familiar historical event in a new and fresh way. I felt like this novel was easy to relate to and understand. It increased my interest of the Holocaust. It made the devastating tragedy come alive for me in a way that I had never experienced before. It made the characters more than just holocaust survivors. They became people just like you and me, both the Jews and the Germans, who were simply trying to make their way in the world. I am not trying to simplify, nullify, or justify the horrific actions of people, but I am saying that this book made them more relatable. If a novel can introduce such a widely publicized event with a new perspective, then that author has done something truly great.