Common Sense Media Review
By Michael Berry
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Compelling tale of book-loving girl's courage, survival.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
As THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ opens, 14-year-old Dita finds herself taken from the Terezin ghetto in Prague with her mother and father and sent to a concentration camp. Jewish leader Fredy Hirsch recruits her to take responsibility of eight precious volumes that have been smuggled past the guards. Discovery means death, and Dita attracts the attention of "The Angel of Death" Joseph Mengele, the real-life German SS officer who performed terrible experiments on victims in the concentration camps and sent victims to their death on the gas chambers.
Is It Any Good?
The Holocaust is a sensitive subject, and this graphic novel addresses it with candor and compassion. Throughout The Librarian of Auschwitz: The Graphic Novel, Dita displays great acts of bravery that few today can imagine. The fact that it's based on a true story gives it extra power. The detailed but sensitive artwork by Loreto Aroca is always clear in its intentions, and the adaptation by Salva Rubio is smart and compelling. Worried readers can know that that the young heroine does survive.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Librarian of Auschwitz uses the comics medium to tell its story. How might the storytelling change in another medium?
Why were books so important to the Jewish prisoners in the concentration camp? Why were they forbidden by their Nazi captors?
How does Dita show courage and perseverance and the ability to work as part of a team? Why are these important character strengths?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Graphic Novel
- Topics : History
- Character Strengths : Courage , Humility , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Godwin Books
- Publication date : January 3, 2023
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 17
- Number of pages : 144
- Available on : Paperback, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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