Resistance: YA comic about the kids who served in the French resistance

Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis's Resistance: Book 1 is the first installment in a series of historical comics telling the story of young children who aided the French resistance during the period of Nazi occupation during WWII. Told from the point of view of two young children in a rural French town who, as their Jewish neighbors are rounded up, hide away their Jewish playmate in a wine-cave, and so find themselves working their way into the resistance.

Told in a simple, straight-ahead style that can be appreciated by young people and adults alike, Resistance works a large amount of factual material about WWII into a brisk, exciting story. The creators do a wonderful job of capturing the variety of motivations and personalities at work in the resistance, and the tensions that arose between patriots, the Jewish underground and people whose fight was more personal.

War stories are a staple of YA literature, and the easy entree provided by the graphic novel format makes this an especially good title to read with a young person to kindle or feed an interest in history.

Resistance: Book 1