Maurice and His Dictionary by Cary Fagan
Release: October 15th 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Source: Netgalley
Synopsis:
This is the story of one refugee family’s harrowing journey, based on author Cary Fagan’s own family history. The graphic novel follows a young Jewish boy, Maurice, and his family as they flee their home in Belgium during the Second World War. They travel by train to Paris, through Spain to Portugal, and finally across the ocean to Jamaica, where they settle in an internment camp.
All the while, Maurice is intent on continuing his education and growing up to be a lawyer. He overcomes obstacles to find a professor to study with, works toward a high school diploma while in the camp, and is ultimately accepted to university in Canada. His English dictionary becomes a beloved tool and beacon of hope through the danger and turmoil of the family’s migration.
Moments of lightness and humor balance the darkness in this powerful story of one refugee family’s courage and resilience, and of the dictionary that came to represent their freedom.
Maurice and His Dictionary Review:
A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Owlkids Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of ” Maurice and His Dictionary” for my review.
This was a wonderful children’s book. Firstly, what struck me was how the author kept the author realistic in lines to what his father had experienced. The author talks about his father’s life in the end, with real life family pictures. There, he explains how the the graphic novel came into being. The author could have easily added some fictional elements and villains to make the graphic novel more adventurous. However, I loved that he stuck to what happened in real life in the story. This made the characters more real and gripping to read about.
Also, the illustrations by Enzo Lord Mariano are amazing! I loved the simplistic feel and the color palette used. In fact, the character’s look reminded me of the 90s Nickelodeon cartoons which I adored. No offense to the illustrator, but I enjoyed reading this story so much that I would have preferred the author released it as a fiction book with more details. I would have loved to read more adventures and challenges Maurice faced. For example, things that he came across as he stepped away from camp to go to college. Moreover, I would have also liked to see more of his interactions with his family. I loved reading about his siblings and his parents, and wondered what they would have been going through.
Therefore, even though I loved this book, I felt a lot happens in this graphic novel, and it felt rushed. I hope that the author releases similar graphic novels and makes this as a series. I would love to read more about Maurice’s family and other things that he went through.
