Plot Summary: During the summer, Art and his wife Francoise are vacationing with friends when Art gets a call from his father to tell him he's had a heart attack. Art and Francoise race to his side in the Catskills, where he tells them his second wife, Mala, has left him and is trying to take all of his money. While Art and Francoise try too help Vladek adjust to these events, Art asks him to tell him more about his experiences in the Holocaust. Vladek picks up his tale from his separation from his first wife Anja and his introduction to the concentration camp Auschwitz. From that beginning, the story jumps between modern times of Art and Francoise helping Vladek and dealing with the guilt he gives them to his account of his time in Auschwitz and beyond. Vladek doesn't like to talk about his experiences during WWII, and even burned his first wife's diaries of that time period to help him forget. Art can't understand why his father won't talk about it, as it was one of the most influential time periods in history, and a huge part of their background. Together, can Art and Vladek help eachother heal?
Critical Evaluation:What praise can be given to Maus II here that it hasn't already received? As the only comic book to ever receive a Pullitzer, the literary quality of this title is undisputed. Art Spiegelman weaves a tale of heartbreak and hope, surviving the Holocaust and then surviving what comes after, that will have readers laughing out loud and bawling, alternately. Maus II, although the conclusion of a two part series, stands alone on it's own merit and you don't need to read the first volume to see its power. If you only have time to read one volume, Maus II should be your choice as it provides the raw picture of the bleak realities of Auschwitz and the ultimate picture of hope that Vladek and Anja's survival creates. With the appealing, and non-threatening, approach of a comic book to communicate these weighty issues, Spiegelman gives the Holocaust a new audience and ensures that we'll never forget, lest we repeat the horrors of WWII. Truly a remarkable book that should be required reading for all.
Reader's Annotation: Art thought surviving the Holocaust would be the hardest thing his father Vladek ever did - but now he's found the real challenge, getting him to talk about it.
About the Author: Art Spiegelman was born in 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden to two Polish survivors of the Holocaust. After immigrating to the United States when he was 3, he went on to attend Harpur College (now SUNY-Binghamton). He became a writer and illustrator in 1965, and after his mother committed suicide in 1968, he felt compelled to learn more about their experiences in the Holocaust and wrote his two most influential works telling their story, Maus I and Maus 11.
Spiegelman is married to a writer and editor, Francoise, and has two children. He lives in New York and continues to write and illustrate.
Information retreived from Something About the Author Database
Genre: Graphic Novel, Autobiography
Curriculum Ties: History, Civics/Government
Booktalking Ideas: Talk about role of animals in book, comparisons to other books.
Reading Level: 10+
Interest Age: 14+
Challenge Issues: Graphic Content, Holocaust, Suicide
Challenge Response: As this title and other Holocaust stories have been widely defended I would point to those responses and also work with local Jewish groups to defend title.
Why is This Included: Easy to understand first person account of Holocaust that is accessible for teens.
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