Description
Temporarily out of stock
Title: Other Side of the Wall, The
Author: SCHWARTZ SIMON
Format: PAPERBACK
Publication date: 01/03/2015
Imprint: GRAPHIC UNIVERSE
Price: $15.95
Publishing status: Active
Simon Schwartz was born in 1982 in East Germany, at a time when the repressive Socialist Unity Party of Germany controlled the area. Shortly before Simon’s birth, his parents decided to leave their home in search of greater freedoms on the other side of the Berlin Wall. But East German authorities did not allow the Schwartzes to leave for almost three years. In the meantime, Simon’s parents struggled with the costs of their decision: the loss of work, the attention of the East German secret police, and the fragmentation of their family.
Kirkus Reviews (01/01/2015):
A stark and pensive glimpse at a young boy’s family as they immigrate to West Berlin prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Through the dual lenses of childhood innocence and adult hindsight, Schwartz tells the story of how his parents fled East Germany, leaving behind all they had ever known and even severing ties to loved ones who disagreed with their defection. More artistic than allegiant, and keenly observant, his parents come separately to their own realizations that they want to leave their oppressive homeland. When they apply for leave, they face the wrath of the fierce Stasi-East Germany’s police force, which knows no boundaries-and suffer ridicule, loss of privacy and humiliation as they are slowly denaturalized. Readers will feel the force of the stern and smothering oppression and should re-examine their own given freedoms. However, while significant and evocative, Schwartz’s offering-bobbing about in a veritable sea of graphic memoirs-doesn’t leave enough that lingers, down to its art, which is reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi’s or Zeina Abirached’s. For a more memorable-and visually striking-look into this time, check out Peter Sis’ remarkable The Wall (2007). Though important both culturally and historically, unfortunately what should be haunting is less than. (glossary, timeline, map) (Graphic memoir. 12-18) COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
School Library Journal (01/01/2015):
Gr 6 Up–In the opening pages of this graphic memoir, the author as a young child realizes that his neighbors and relatives are not free to move around. They live on the eponymous other side of the wall. Schwartz shares his story growing up in West Berlin and that of his parents’ lives in East Berlin as they grow increasingly disillusioned with the communist government of East Germany and face great resistance to their desire to immigrate. Depicted in black and white with a realistic style that portrays a grim history without being overly stark, this graphic novel shares an important view of recent history. Likely to have greatest resonance with high schoolers, this book would be appropriate for middle school as well. While it might appeal most to adults with personal memories of a communist empire, Schwartz’s work is also a fantastic supplement to traditional textbooks. A good addition to school and public libraries looking to add diversity to their teen or secondary education graphic novel collections.–“Elizabeth Nicolai, Anchorage Public Library, AK” Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Booklist (01/01/2015):
Grades 4-7 The Cold War tension represented by the Berlin Wall likely still has some real estate in the German psyche today, but it might still be rather remote to most American readers. Schwartz’s multiple-award winner (in his native Germany) will go some way toward remedying that. Schwartz recalls his parents’ struggle to make a life in Communist East Berlin and, eventually, to immigrate to the democratic west side of the wall, at the cost of careers, friends, and family. The complex politics are set aside in favor of a narrative that captures the desperation of adults caught in an oppressive society and the confusion of a young child seeing it through the prism of family. Schwartz’s black-and-white cartooning abets this simpler, emotionally resonant style with large, minimalist faces that powerfully express feelings, while realistic backgrounds give an underlying sense of authenticity. This slim volume typifies the format’s great strength in this area, which is not to deliver hard facts but to bring the human face of history off the page and into readers’ hearts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
Marc Notes:
Simon Schwartz was born in 1982 in the GDR (East Germany). One and a half years later, he left the country with his parents, and the family resettled in West Berlin. As political dissidents, his parents experienced harassment by the Stasi and a lack of understanding from members of their own family. This striking graphic novel memoir chronicles the family’s difficult journey to get to the other side of the Berlin Wall–Provided by publisher.;Ages 12 to 18.
ISBN: 9781467760287
Weight: 281g
Dimension: 224mm X 187mm
Pages: 112