Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass
Published in 2013 by Pajama Press
ISBN: 978-1927485-53-8
Rating: 4 Stars
Wilm is usually at least a little hungry. Food is still scarce in Leipzig even after the war. The Soviets take most of the good food. They let thousands of pounds of butter rot in the sun because they couldn’t find a train to take it to Russia. But at least Wilm has enough that he can sometimes share with friends worse off than him.
The trouble is powerlessness. Wilm’s father lost a leg in the war and is powerless to make enough money so the family can live comfortably. He’s powerless to help his daughter recover from a brutal attack from several Soviets. The one person he has power over is Wilm, who in turn feels powerless.
Or is he? When he has a chance to annoy the Soviets with a flat tire, he takes it. The thrill is more than he expected and so he plans another annoyance, and another, bringing his friends into the plan. They only damper on his new life is Otto, the engineer examining the local bridges for damage. Otto feels that Wilm should aspire to build, not destroy.
Bass brings an interesting point-of-view to readers. Like Zusak’s The Book Thief, her book deals with the lives of ordinary Germans, who had to assimilate into the Fürher’s new vision or risk being carted off with the other enemies to the concentration camps, but then found themselves branded as Nazis by the Soviets. A necessary perspective for any young reader interested in the Second World War.
Cate
Notes:
Cover: Good cover, but it unfortunately does not evoke the period, which makes it less likely for those already interested in WWII to pick it up. Also, the marionette figure is too perfectly drawn to be realistic graffiti.
What to read next: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Other bookselling notes: Our store’s kid’s book club was lucky enough to have a Skype chat with the author. Nothing like discovering a great personality behind a book to make you want to sell it all the more.
