BBAW: Influenced By Other Bloggers

Hello everyone! I am going to take part in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week prompt today, as it is something that has affected me recently.

Here is the prompt:

Book bloggers can be some of the most influential people around!  Today we invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger.  What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like?

I am on Goodreads, as many of you know, and I follow one wonderful reviewer in particular by the name of Chandra. She reviews mostly picture books and children's books, with the occasional adult novel. One picture book she reviewed about two weeks ago grabbed my attention.

Title: Rose Blanche
Author: Roberto Innocenti
Publisher: Creative Editions, 1985
Where I got it: I requested it through my library.

Rose Blache is a young school girl in Germany during World War II. She sees trucks go by, driven by soldiers, but can't figure out what the trucks are transporting. Until she sees something one day that will change her life forever.

Her mother notices that she is growing thinner, even as her appetite seems to grow incredibly large, much too large for one little girl. Where does all that food go? Where does she bring it after she packs it into her school bag?

This is a picture book that is most definitely meant for older children. It is very heavy, as it is about the Holocaust and deals with hunger, war and death. It is completely absorbing and harrowing, yet very subtle in its prose. Much of the story is told through the pictures, which tend to be drab and gray with the exception of the objects we are expected to notice. It reminded me of Schindler's List a little in that regard.

Perhaps one of the most affecting characteristics is the switch from first-person point of view to third-person about halfway through. At this point, the language reminds one of the prose of a fairy tale, though not a happy one. Though it is not a happily-ever-after ending, I found it fitting, though it did make my heart skip a beat.

This is certainly one book to at least take the time to read, if not add to your personal collection. It will stay with you long after you close it and place it down.