Author: Marzena Sowa
Genre: historical fiction/graphic novel
Similar books: The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long
The Other Side of the Wall by Simon Schwartz
Rating:
 |
| Contemplative |
Summary (provided by publisher): A little boy tries to kiss a little girl. No big deal. The little girl gets away and sends the little boy packing. Nothing more than an anecdote amongst many others of any normal childhood. But if this event takes place at school in a Socialist republic, half way through a propaganda movie, years before the wall is even showing the slightest sign of giving out... Well, it's asking for trouble. This is the story of two children in a society in which paranoia and obsessive control mean that even the most innocent gesture can be blown completely out of proportion.
My opinion: There are plenty of stories about life in Socialist countries and I applaud them all, especially those like this one. We need to see the dangers of totalitarian government, where your every actions is watched and questioned. Where people simply disappear and everyone just accepts it as normal. Even more than the starkness of the life we need the reminder of small rebellions. They can control what you say and do but never what you think. That's the focus of this book. Not revolution but making it through your every day life. It's a contemplative plot supported by clean lines and soft colors, remincent of the innocence of children's fiction in the 50s.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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