Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 - A Junior Library Guild Fall 2016 Selection

Flying Couch, Amy Kurzweil's debut, tells the stories of three unforgettable women. Amy weaves her own coming-of-age as a young Jewish artist into the narrative of her mother, a psychologist, and Bubbe, her grandmother, a World War II survivor who escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto by disguising herself as a gentile. Captivated by Bubbe's story, Amy turns to her sketchbooks, teaching herself to draw as a way to cope with what she discovers. Entwining the voices and histories of these three wise, hilarious, and very different women, Amy creates a portrait not only of what it means to be part of a family, but also of how each generation bears the imprint of the past.

A retelling of the inherited Holocaust narrative now two generations removed, Flying Couch uses Bubbe's real testimony to investigate the legacy of trauma, the magic of family stories, and the meaning of home. With her playful, idiosyncratic sensibility, Amy traces the way our memories and our families shape who we become. The result is this bold illustrated memoir, both an original coming-of-age story and an important entry into the literature of the Holocaust.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Black Balloon Publishing
Published: 10/11/2016
ISBN: 9781936787289
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.85lbs
Size: 9.90h x 7.90w x 0.80d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2016 pg. 141
Booklist 09/15/2016 pg. 43
Publishers Weekly 09/19/2016
School Library Journal 10/01/2016 pg. 140
Shelf Awareness 10/25/2016
Voice of Youth Advocates 12/01/2016 - Recommended - Hard To Beat

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 184759 / Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir
Reading Level: 4.2 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 2