Sarah Sullivan---Libr. 264 Tween Literature

Traditional Children’s Literature  Traditional literature for children/tweens features a young protagonist who, through her struggles, emerges stronger, wiser, and hopeful about the future.

 Struggles must lead to catharsis.

 True of both biography and fiction.

Wonder Woman takes on the Nazis.

Survival Statistics

(Pictured): 54 Children found alive at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.

 Overall Europe: Of 1.5 million Jewish children under 16 in 1939, 175,000 survived the war.

 Poland: Of 1 million Jewish children under 14 in 1939, 5000 were alive in 1945.

Early Biographical Literature

Amusement and Discovery

(Pictured): Millie Perkins as Anne Frank in 1959 movie.

 “…Anne Frank’s diary simply bubbles with amusement, love, and discovery…it is a warm and stirring confession to be read over and over again.” --- New York Times 1952 , Book Review Early versions of Anne Frank’s diary deliberately removed overt references to her Jewish identity.

Thanks To My Mother (2000) Schoschana Rabinovici

 Short, picture book.

 Pencil drawings combined with simple narration.

   Overly positive representations trivialize horror.

Overly negative representations may not be appropriate for children.

Necessary to find a balance

The Devil’s Arithmetic (1990)  Uses elements of science fiction to tell protagonist’s story.

 Teenage girl travels back in time, finds herself transformed into a Jewish girl on her way to Auschwitz.

 Able to combine hopeful ending with more realistic portrait of Holocaust.

Han Nolan (1994)    Comatose adolescent neo-Nazi finds herself trapped in Holocaust survivor’s memory.

Darker than “Devil’s Arithmetic.” Subdued hope at end: no longer neo-Nazi, but still confused.

  Jordan, S. D., (2004) Educating Without Overwhelming: Authorial Strategies in Children's Holocaust Literature. Children's Literature in Education, 35 (3), 199–218. Retrieved at: http://web.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehost/detail?sid=665ac808-71ce-4aa9-bd62 98e05d27f3bc%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=24&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=14426263 Kertzer, A. (2000). Like a Fable, Not a Pretty Picture: Holocaust Representation in Robert Benigni and Anita Lobel. Michigan Quarterly Review, 39 (2). Retrieved From: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text idx?cc=mqr;c=mqr;c=mqrarchive;idno=act2080.0039.213;rgn=main;view=text;xc=1;g=mqrg   Martin, M. J., (2004) Experience and Expectations: The Dialogic Narrative of Adolescent Holocaust Literature, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 29 (4). Retrieved at: http://muse.jhu.edu.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/journals/childrens_literature_association_quarterly/v029/29.4.martin.html

Tal, E., (2004). How much Should We Tell the Children? Representing Death and Suffering in Children’s Holocaust Literature. Retrieved at: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/conference/2004/43.pdf

     Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Doubleday, 1952 Nolan, Han. If I Should Die Before I Wake. New York: Harcourt, 1994.

Rabinovici, Schoschana. Thanks To My Mother. New York: Dial Books, 1998.

Vander Zee, Ruth. Erika’s Story. South Bend: Creative Edition, 2003. Yolen, Jane. The Devil’s Arithmetic. 1988. New York: Puffin, 1990.