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No Happy Endings: The Holocaust in Children’s Literature. 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.
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No Happy Endings: The Holocaust in Children’s Literature 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 • 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. (Pictured): 54 Children found alive at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
Anne Frank (1947) Early Biographical Literature
Amusement and Discovery • “…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. (Pictured): Millie Perkins as Anne Frank in 1959 movie.
Modern Biographical Trends Thanks To My Mother (2000) SchoschanaRabinovici
Biographies for Younger Readers • Short, picture book. • Pencil drawings combined with simple narration.
The Holocaust in Juvenile Fiction • 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.
If I Should Die Before I Wake 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.
References: Articles • 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
Books Cited • 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.
