Review: Two Pieces of Chocolate
Two Pieces of Chocolate
by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
Second Story Press, 2024
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Karen Shakman
Buy at Bookshop.org
Two Pieces of Chocolate tells the story of an act of kindness between a woman and a child in Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp at the end of the Holocaust. The story is ultimately one of survival and hope, despite the desperate circumstances of the characters. The author does not shy away from describing the conditions of the camp, including powerful sensory details, such as the smell of “rotting eggs and bad feet and human sweat”, and the sight of humans “stumbling past like sleepwalkers.” Thus, the author paints a picture of a dark time in history without sugar coating the circumstances. However, the story conveys how people, in the face of such inhumanity, may act with selflessness, as does the child when she encounters a fellow prisoner, late in pregnancy and terribly weak. This act of kindness is at the center of the story, and, as the satisfying ending reveals, it truly happened.
The muted illustrations convey the difficulty of life at the camp and the hunger the residents faced, but the expressions of the characters also demonstrate the love and care between mother and child. The muted tone of the drawings match the text, and create a picture of life in the camp that, while apt, is perhaps not best suited to younger picture book readers. The back cover of the book does indicate that the text is meant for 9-12 year olds, despite it being a picture book, and this seems appropriate.
This book adds to the collection of important stories for young people that teach the truth of the Holocaust while focusing on hope and survival in the face of unimaginable cruelty. There are never too many of these stories, and this one is told with grace and lyricism.
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Reviewer Karen Shakman lives in Cambridge, MA where she teaches middle school and writes books for children and young adults. She was a member of the PJ Library’s inaugural group of emerging Jewish picture book writers’ at Highlights Foundation in summer 2022, and was a participant in Grub Street’s Novel Generator and Novel Incubator programs.
Two Pieces of Chocolate tells the story of an act of kindness between a woman and a child in Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp at the end of the Holocaust. The story is ultimately one of survival and hope, despite the desperate circumstances of the characters. The author does not shy away from describing the conditions of the camp, including powerful sensory details, such as the smell of “rotting eggs and bad feet and human sweat”, and the sight of humans “stumbling past like sleepwalkers.” Thus, the author paints a picture of a dark time in history without sugar coating the circumstances. However, the story conveys how people, in the face of such inhumanity, may act with selflessness, as does the child when she encounters a fellow prisoner, late in pregnancy and terribly weak. This act of kindness is at the center of the story, and, as the satisfying ending reveals, it truly happened.
The muted illustrations convey the difficulty of life at the camp and the hunger the residents faced, but the expressions of the characters also demonstrate the love and care between mother and child. The muted tone of the drawings match the text, and create a picture of life in the camp that, while apt, is perhaps not best suited to younger picture book readers. The back cover of the book does indicate that the text is meant for 9-12 year olds, despite it being a picture book, and this seems appropriate.
This book adds to the collection of important stories for young people that teach the truth of the Holocaust while focusing on hope and survival in the face of unimaginable cruelty. There are never too many of these stories, and this one is told with grace and lyricism.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
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