A Family Secret

In this graphic novel, Eric Heuvel and Ruud van der Rol craft a gentle but unflinching introduction to the Holocaust for young readers, framed as a family story passed between generations. Published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2009, the single volume follows a Dutch teenager who uncovers her grandmother’s hidden wartime past as a Jewish girl in hiding. Heuvel’s warm, clear artwork and the authors’ careful pacing make the history accessible without softening its gravity. It stands as a thoughtful, standalone work that uses the comics medium to preserve memory across generations.