A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo (review)

This graphic-novel adaptation of Joseph Joffo’s 1973 memoir recounts the experiences of the Joffos, a Jewish family that tried to stay one step ahead of the Nazis in occupied France. Mr. Joffo, a successful barber, at first placates the occupying soldiers who frequent his establishment, but this doesn’t last, and the pragmatic Joffo sends his two youngest sons, Jo and Maurice, off to join their older brothers in the free zone. His faith in the stamina and smarts of the two boys is justified; they’re careful with their money, wary of giving themselves away, and circumspect with their trust. After the boys begin going to school, working, and enjoying “precious freedom” in Menton, news arrives that their parents have been arrested by authorities, and now family life turns into a serious game of cat and mouse. Their older brother manages to free his parents, but a summons to “compulsory work service” puts them on the run again, and Mr. Joffo splits the family into three teams of two to evade the Nazis. The focus remains steadily on Jo and Maurice, whose cleverness and good luck pull them through close calls on trains, at work, in a boys’ camp, and even in jail until the family reunites at the end of the war in Paris—all but the good-natured Mr. Joffo, who cheerfully rallied his family to safety but couldn’t save himself. Dense watercolor and scratchy line artwork is strongly reminiscent of Mordicai Gerstein, and careful attention to geographic detail lends immediacy to the boys’ odyssey. A map, glossary, and historical note (as well as footnoted translations) are included, but the brothers’ exploits alone make a thrilling story that needs little pedagogical support.