I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944: The Graphic Novel

I Survived Graphix #3

by Álvaro Sarraseca (Illustrator), Lauren Tarshis

A graphic novel adaptation of Lauren Tarshis's novel. In a Jewish ghetto, Max Rosen and his sister, Zena, struggle to live after their father is taken away by the Nazis. With barely enough food to survive, the siblings make a daring escape from German soldiers into the nearby forest and are brought to a safe camp by Jewish resistance fighters. But soon, grenades are falling all around them. Can Max and Zena survive the fallout of the Nazi invasion?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Comics

160 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2021

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great I Survived graphic novel for children. Addressing the Nazi Invasion of 1944, there’s nothing like reading how a family is forced apart and the young siblings try to outsmart their enemy, to get your blood flowing late at night. I know from reading previous stories about the Nazi’s and hearing personal stories, that this period in history is one of the darkest but each time I read one of these stories, I still shake my head. To allow someone to have that much control and then, all the individuals that followed every one of his commands. I think it’s so sad.

It’s bad enough that families have been pulled out of their own homes and placed into a ghetto with who-knows how many other displaced families. Just when they think this might be their new home, they’re yanked out and their lives are rearranged again. For Max, he had his sister Zena and his Papa nearby until the Nazi’s decided they could use Papa elsewhere and they took him away. Now, it’s just Max and Zena, and they’re trying to survive. Can they do it alone?

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this graphic novel, the use of color was fantastic. The action was nonstop as this family was pulled from their surroundings and became one of many. If you haven’t checked out this graphic novel series based on the I Survived series, I highly recommend that you do.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great graphic adaptation of the I Survived series. This one takes place in Poland during WWII. The Jewish people are rounded up and forced to live in a ghetto. Max and his sister haven't seen their father for weeks. They are alone and scared. They manage to escape the ghetto, but are pursued by Nazi soldiers. A kind farmer hides them in his barn and introduces them to a group of resistance fighters, who have just blown up a bridge with a train carrying supplies for the Nazi's. Their aunt is part of the resistance and they are reunited with her. They are being hunted by the Nazi's and must make the dangerous journey to their hideout in the woods.

This book was very exciting. The illustrations were well done and did a nice job of telling the story. This book provided a lot of information about the resistance fighters that many people - especially kids- might not know that much about. At the end of the book, the author gave a detailed description of the resistance groups, facts about the holocaust and background on why she wrote this story. It is very well done. I think kids will enjoy this book and also learn something from it.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My criticism of this series is that it is often too feel-good and everyone lives happily ever after, but this one bucks the trend. There is a moment where Max wants to prevent a Nazi soldier his age from being shot but he fails. The soldier dies. Max also speaks about how his own bullet wound heals but the emotional damage will take much longer to heal. I think the tough subject matter was handled well for the young audience. The timeline of the story seemed confusing to me, like that the Nazi invasion of Poland was around a month. But there was a timeline in the back for kids to read more. Very cool focusing on the Partisans, showing Jewish heroes fighting instead of the usual Christian saviour thing we see in a lot of Holocaust stories. Very surface-level mention of the founding of Israel that makes it look like terra nullius.

[Bethany Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.. this is definitely the heaviest book that I’ve read in this series. It’s about a Jewish brother and sister who are trying to escape the Nazi invasion of Poland. Stories about the Holocaust and World War 2 are typically very tough reads for me. Such a dark time in history—it really sits heavy on me. Even though this is a middle grade book, it carries these deep themes. The author didn’t shy away from displaying the horrific atrocities that occurred. I appreciate the effort given to telling young readers the true story of what happened to millions of Jews.

[⋆˚࿔ julia 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5★
I’ve always loved the I Survived books! I’ve been reading them since I was little and I love to pick one up every now and then. Lauren Tarshis is a wonderful author, and the illustrators did an excellent job with the book!

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

A wonderful tribute to Partisans

[Tom Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a boy and girl who were in the middle of ww2 and were Jewish and one day they saw berries and went for then and got caught and then the sister throw a rock at the solider and escaped.

I like this book because I have always wanted to learn abut ww2 and so I got to read this and it was so good.

I did not like anything in this book not talking and they were just in war the whole time and did not show any unneeded parts.

I rate this book 5 stars because I liked everything so that is my review for this book.

[Rien Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this topic very much as a reading and movie topic.

[Chayce Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in one afternoon after I got home from school.

[Kinzie Moffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My oldest was so fascinated with this story and now wants to learn more about WWII history. The facts at the back of the book are done well!

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had an aversion to most Scholastic-style book series. Growing up, I never was super interested in-- or had the patience for-- following the same characters over seemingly never-ending episodic quests. I would much rather have a complete story, and get-in-and-get-out of that world in 3 books or less.

That aversion probably wandered out of "preference" territory, and ended up more like "prejudice" more often that it should have. Even as a kid, I developed a taste that saw books which needed numbers on the spine as subpar cookie-cutters. The worst, though, were the historical series. Dear America and The Magic Treehouse stand out in my mind as the prime examples. I wasn't against historical books, generally. But in a mass series, it felt... cheap to me. It was the equivalent to being a Kraft 'Mac & Cheese' kid, and refusing to 'settle' for Great Value "Cheese and Noodles". I don't know where I got that from. My parents didn't raise me that way. As an adult, I'm kind of ashamed of that prejudice.

Anyway, all this to say-- as much as I've tried to un-learn my past prejudices, they're never totally gone, because when my kids wanted to get into the I Survived... historical series, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. "Great, some nobody who thinks they know everything is cheapening history with mass-produced paperback about random tragedies. Probably riddled with inaccuracies!"

But, I found I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 an engaging read with my boys. This is not the ABC's of the World War. It's also not a quirky Netflix Original animated show with cute anthropomorphized creatures, that skip through the beaches of Normandy.

I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 treats the subject with reverence, and while I wouldn't call it 'graphic', I would call it 'serious'. The illustrations may not have a lot of unique flair to them, they're still well done.

Any book that gets my kids asking questions about the world are a-ok by me.

I can't call this a great starting point for kids concerning WWII. Some loose understanding about the War might be beneficial.

[Payton Kilgore · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay but I don't think I would read it again .

[Jamie Mirano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adding to my classroom library!

[Miles Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. It described how Germany was defeated in world war 2
But I prefer fiction.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max and Zena are two young Jewish children living in the ghetto. They decide to run away and into the woods of Poland. It is here that they run into then Partisans. Rebel Jewish fighters opposing Nazi forces. This story was sweet and the family is reunited in the end. Not many families were able to have that ending in the Nazi-occupied territories. I learned about something new in the history of WWII.

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students love reading the I Survived series, especially the graphic novel versions. This book was action packed and did a good job highlighting the resistance fighters. This will be a perfect addition to my class library.

[Yz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its so cool how they made graphic novels for this series! When I was 9 I survived was like my fav! The blood was a bit much fore though

[Zac Wastier · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like graphic novels and history you will love this book. I learned many things about the holocaust in this book.

[Chelsea Primmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that started my love for graphic novels. My little brother brought this book to me while I was in the hospital and it was the first book I’ve finished in a day.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

It was very sad but, I would recommend this book to people who like learning about wars. It was really sweet on some pages and it kinda changed the mood of the book.

[B.D · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.85🌟
I always really like the books in this series and this time was no different. I liked how the story went through more time of our MC’s life than there normally is and it went to after the war, kind of like in an epilogue. In this story there were a bunch of good characters but none of them stood out to me in this book. However, the art was really good and I enjoyed the story. I always love learning about the world wars, I don’t know why. In conclusion, a good read just not my favourite of the series. I’m still glad I read it and I 100% recommend these books for slumps. For ages 10/11 for gore.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! And a great way to let kids read about a scary time in history. A great story and great illustrations to go along. Some kids will want to read the graphic novels more than the fictional books and these are great, plus they are a fast read. With lots of true facts at the end of the book.

[Pamela Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, captures the terrifying essence of this beyond horrific event for middle school to understand. The colors blend & balance well with the text. Readability is simple & topic is provocative, as it should be. May we never forget.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an important read for younger readers. I think this is a great starting point to learn more about Hitler and World War Two. I even learned some new things. The art style is really good, and this is so easy to follow. The writing was kind of stilted to me though.

[tina]

I wanted to read this because I know this book series is popular for middle school kids, and I was curious how kids today are learning about this period of history (fascism, nazism, horribly disgusting governments run by evil people, etc.)

[Wardah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read historical fiction about Holocaust for young reader.

[Alex Klaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love history.

[Nathan Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT historical fiction graphic novel! Gives you a visual of how it was really like in the Holocausts.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Polish ghetto escapees made the jump to graphic novel very well.

[Purple Avocado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 is a historical fiction graphic novel written by Georgia Ball and Lauren Tarshis. It talks about the main characters Max and Zena, who are Jewish, living in the time when WWII was happening. They are always guarded by the nazis, and their dad got taken away by them. Max and Zena escaped when Max tried to grab berries outside the fence. They were almost caught when they were hiding in a barn. But they got saved by a nice farmer. Max and Zeno also met their aunt Hannah, who joined the Jewish partisans, where they fight against the nazis. The partisans brought Max and Zena to safe camps, they faced a lot of challenges during the journey. Lastly, they reunited with their father, who escaped by jumping off the train and asking where Max and Zeno went. Two years later, when WWII ended, Max's family decided to head off to America and start a brand new life.
What I like about this book is it taught me more about the history of WWII, for example, the Jewish partisan, where Jewish people fight against the nazis, and how some people are still willing to help save the Jewish people from the nazis. I also think the plot is very interesting, the partisans are always running away from the nazis, which is kind of thrilling.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 because I'm really interested in the holocaust of the Jewish people and I like how the author transformed the real situation into a story, a graphic novel. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in nazi invasions and WWII, this story gives the reader a lot of information about the real situation.