A Family Secret

A Family Secret book cover shows a red-haired teenage boy in an attic with scattered books, photos, and papers all over the floor. There is an open suitcase next to him and boxes in the background. He is holding a covered dagger in his right hand and a Star of David in his left. He is looking over his shoulder in concern.

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Our price: $14.99

Ages: 10-14

Grades: 6th+

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Product Code: 174-176

Timberdoodle's Review

A Family Secret

A Family Secret provides a graphic novel overview of WWII from a "safe" Dutch girl's perspective as she relates the tale of her Jewish friend who suffered through the terror of the Holocaust. Characters in the book represent a wide diversity in respect to decency – from the innocent to the heroic resistance fighters, from the passive bystanders to the brutal Nazis. Firmly rooted in history and delivering accurate facts along a precise timeline, A Family Secret does a remarkable job of communicating some of the most perplexing and disturbing events in Dutch history. The story and characters from A Family Secret are intertwined and expanded upon in The Search.

 

From the Publisher:
While searching his grandmother's attic for likely items to sell at a yard sale, Jeroen finds a photo album that brings back hard memories for his grandmother, Helena. Helena tells Jeroen for the first time about her experiences during the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War, and mourns the loss of her Jewish best friend, Esther. Helena believes that her own father, a policeman and Nazi sympathizer, delivered Esther to the Nazis and that she died in a concentration camp. But after hearing her story, Jeroen makes a discovery and Helena realizes that her father kept an important secret from her.


About Graphic Novels:
Experienced parents know that the amount of reading their child does will have a direct and positive impact on his reading fluency and vocabulary development. That is why graphic novels - which we used to refer to as comic books - though once relegated to the category of lowbrow reading, are now experiencing a surge in popularity.

You may think that the comic book medium is primarily for mainstream American children who are peppered by snack-size visual and audio bombardment. If you desire that your children slow down and feast on the written word, then you may cringe at the idea of a graphic novel version of Moby Dick. But before you issue a home-wide ban on these books, consider the following.

If you have a reluctant or beginning reader, your first concern should be for fluidity and competency. You will find that the graphic novel's illustrations draw your child in even as the vocabulary becomes more complex. Then, because the graphics are so attention-grabbing, children often find themselves reading for pleasure.

If your reluctant reader is an older child, your main concern may be making sure that he is culturally savvy. With graphic novels, vocabulary is introduced via contextual clues, making great literature accessible to more children. The interesting pictures and snappy dialogue, with little-to-no narration to bog the reader down, will encourage independent reading and learning. As the child's competence and confidence grow, so will his joy of literacy.

Even if your older child is a competent reader, he will enjoy taking a break from the verbally intense books characteristic of higher-level learning to enjoy a more visual form of storytelling. A 2006 study found that the amount of reading children did for fun decreased from the time they were eight through the teen years. Graphic books can re-engage them in the delights of reading for leisure as well as for learning.

There are children who may never read for pleasure; God just might have wired them differently. But most children, from the reluctant, faltering reader to the brilliant but easily bored adolescent, will find graphic novels intriguing.

Features
Download Teacher's Guide PDF

Binding: Paperback
Pages: 64
Publisher: Square Fish, under Macmillan Publishing
Copyright: 2009
Author: Eric Heuvel
English Translation By: Lorraine T. Miller
Production: Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, in cooperation with the Resistance Museum of Friesland
ISBN: 9780374422653
Publisher's Age Recommendation: 10-14
Faith-Based: No

Awards and Endorsements:
Kirkus Best Book of the Year
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year

“Secrets are revealed right up to the present, and in all their complexity, they stay with readers forever. . . . this is a must for the Holocaust curriculum.”
—Booklist, starred review -

Customer Reviews

Based on 8 reviews
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H
Haley
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Love learning through these graphic novels

R
Riley
Excellent introduction to WWll

We are using this book as our intro into WWll. The illustrations keep my daughter’s attention and the content is really good.

R
Rebecca O.H.
Great Reading

This was kid-friendly and interesting.

H
Hayes
Graphic novels!

I love that Timberdoodle includes graphic novels in their lots. Not all children love reading...but graphic novels is a great and softer way to get children reading.

J
Jessica B.

My child loved this one and it keeps her attention.