The 1st volume of the story of Polish Jew Vladek Spiegelman took him right up to the gates of Auschwitz. In this second volume, Vladek and his wife survive the horrors of two of the deadliest camps the Nazis ran, but at what cost? As seen in their lives after the war, as well as in the life and psyche of their son, coming out alive at the end of the Holocaust was just the first battle (though granted, a very, very difficult battle).

The previous book was rough enough in some ways, but this one is like a gut punch. The images portrayed of Vladek and those around him, the death and torture, can be difficult to handle. Add to that the depression that Art Spiegelman himself goes through as he works on putting his father's story on paper, and it is not a book to be taken lightly. Amidst the terror, I am still fascinated to read about Vladek's ingenuity, the tricks he used to stay alive. Sometimes it was pure luck, but often it was intelligence and quick thinking.

The emotions were heavy when the separated Vladek and Anja manage to even simply hear word that each other is alive. That hit me hard, thinking about my husband and me being in a similar situation. When I finished the book, I was left with a feeling of heaviness that was hard to shake. There's just no way to be able to imagine a fraction of what those involved in the Holocaust went through, living easy lives as we are. I think it's important for us to never forget what humanity is capable of, lest we begin to believe something like this could never happen again. I would recommend this to be read by anyone interested in this part of history, even if you don't normally read graphic novels. I don't either, but these books have captivated me for years. ( )

Amazing books. No other word for it. Painful to read with the difficult relationship between father (Holocaust survivor) and son (writer) that you feel yourself flinching and sometimes turning away from the page. The calm almost flat description of the horrors of the Holocaust that the father relays make them feel even more awful. These acts of brutality were simply every day events that had to be endured and gotten through.

Breathtaking. ( )

This book is appropriate for 5th grade. It's about a rat's time in the Auschwitz concentration camp. This book is heavy, so I wouldn't have it available for students younger than 5th grade because it is about the concentration camps and that can be really dark and sensitive for kids. I don't know that I would have it in my classroom for elementary students. ( )

Continuing the story from Maus I, Art Spiegelman relates his father's experiences in several concentration camps and what happened to the survivors at the end of the war. This book is darker and more 'graphicly' depicts the deplorable conditions suffered by Jews and other groups the Nazi's imprisoned. The graphic comic also shows his interactions with a parent that is battling multiple illnesses and habits held over from his time in the camps.
Instead of trying to ban these books, I think they should be required reading for everyone. ( )

This was a good second volume, though it was more about the present than the past (both the present of the characters, and the emotional rollercoaster the author hit after publishing the first one, which got a bit dicey and uncomfortable at times). I did not feel this volume packed as much punch, nor had much of anything in culminating or having any sort of ending, either in the past or the present. It just abruptly ended, which felt entirely anthithesis of the whole story about how nothing does end. ( )