Resistance

Jablonski, Carla. Resistance. Illustrated by Leland Purvis. First Second, 2010. 128 pages. Tr. $16.99, ISBN 978-1596432918.   

What’s it about?

In 1942 France, it is dangerous to be Jewish—and to help the Jews. Paul, Marie and Sylvie Tessiers, three young siblings, risk their lives by joining the resistance movement to help their Jewish friend Henri reunite with his parents.

 Find out more:

Resistance is a graphic novel, the first book in a planned trilogy, set during World War II in 1942 Vichy France. This compelling story centers around thirteen year old Paul Tessier, an artistic boy whose father is a P.O.W. Paul and his younger sister Marie hide their Jewish friend Henri from the Germans after his parents are taken away by the Germans. When a French Resistance member, Jacques, discovers their secret, the children, along with Paul’s older sister, Sylvie, join the resistance movement. The three siblings risk their lives to help Henri reunite with his parents.

What is unsettling about this book is the ordinary scenes taking place amidst a backdrop of tension and hatred always potentially ready to boil over. One scene, toward the beginning, depicts a group of children goofing off, splashing water from a fountain on each other, and then gleefully dumping a bucket of water on a girl passing by. This girl screams, “I’ll denounce you!” Her face, contorted with hatred is rendered into a black and white rough sketch, stylistically very different from the colorful comic style panels that form the majority of the artwork. This happens throughout the book, an interesting way to not only emphasize a character’s extreme emotions, but also to imply that Paul may be channeling his struggles and those of his country into his art.  This book is exciting, rich, and the artwork, though not stellar, deftly conveys a wide range of emotion.  

For readers unfamiliar with the French Resistance, there is a helpful introduction explaining the German occupation and the French response. The author differentiates between para-military groups and the Maquis and people who took action whenever could to oppose German occupiers, noting that is more apt to call these people part of the resistance movement rather than members of “The Resistance.” The author’s note at the end is very interesting as well, noting that “living history is messy, filled with missteps, confusion, mistakes, and choices made on the fly, in the moment, on the spot—with consequences that can be unpredictable and intended.”  Resistance is a great title to hand to tweens interested in history and historical fiction. Interest in graphic novels isn’t necessary, but may be helpful.   

Reading level: Gr. 2-3

Interest level: Gr. 5-12

Genre:  Historical fiction, Historical graphic novel

Subjects: World War II, French Resistance, Occupied France, Nazi Germany

Awards:

Sydney Taylor Honor Book (2010)

 Booklist starred review

Read-alikes:

 The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography

Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campell Bartoletti

Characters:

Henri—Jewish boy whose parents, hotel owners, are taken away by the Germans

Paul Tessier—an artistic boy & best friend of Henri; his parents have taken over the hotel during the war so that Henri’s parents could come back to it after the war

Marie Tessier—Paul’s younger sister, an intelligent girl whose great memory and attention to detail may prove useful to the French Resistance

Sylvie Tessier—Paul’s older sister, also becomes involved in the Resistance movement

Jacques—A Resistance member, who catches Paul and Marie hiding Henri