Art Spiegelman's father Vladek is a survivor of the Holocaust. Maus is the retelling of his experiences before, during and after the Holocaust. Set in Vladek's home over a number of afternoons, the story follows the thread of the father and son's conversation and covers everything from Vladek's romantic relationships, his wife (and Art's mother)'s suicide, to his absolutely terrifying experiences in Auschwitz. Spiegelman is an artist and the text is written in graphic novel form in which each of the groups of people is represented by a different animal. It is a new take on a story often told in a traditional novel style.
Overall, I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed the novel, though I can see its value. Although I have not read many graphic novels, I will say that I enjoyed all of them more than I did Maus. For some reason I couldn't get into the story. Perhaps it was the fact that there were multiple plot lines occurring simultaneously, or that it was so non-linear? I am not sure. However, I do see how Maus could be a useful text in a middle school or high school language arts class. Sporadically including graphic novels is a great way to "spice up" the curriculum and keep your students on their toes. It would be a good text to pair with perhaps The Diary of Anne Frank or Night as it would give an alternate perspective (the Polish experience) and present visual images to elicit potential discussion.
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