What We’re Reading: ‘When I Grow Up’ is a graphic novel created from discovered stories of Yiddish teenagers, just before Hitler’s invasion
I’ve been reading the diaries of teenagers. Or rather, not diaries, but autobiographies, most of which were written anonymously, scribbling into notebooks that had been locked away for decades. Some of these stories were long, some were short, some exuberant and some anxious. Of the six recounted in “When I Grow Up” (Bloomsbury, $28), most of their authors died soon after writing. They were ...
I’ve been reading the diaries of teenagers.
Or rather, not diaries, but autobiographies, most of which were written anonymously, scribbling into notebooks that had been locked away for decades. Some of these stories were long, some were short, some exuberant and some anxious. Of the six recounted in “When I Grow Up” (Bloomsbury, $28), most of their authors died soon after writing. They were Jewish and living around Eastern Europe. World War II would start shortly. Most of these authors would be at the end of their adolescence, unknowingly writing life stories.
Ken Krimstein, New Yorker cartoonist and Evanston, Illinois resident, came across these notebooks a few years ago. He was hunting
