Citation:  Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by  J.P. Stassen and J.P. Stassen, ill.  New York:  First Second, 2006.

ISBN: 978-1-59643-103-4

Annotation: Deogratias is a boy slowly slipping into madness as he witnesses the atrocities in Rwanda that cause him to do horrible acts of violence, witness his friends’ deaths, and live in a world that exterminates the innocent.

Media: Graphic Novel format with a cartoon style done in color

Personal Rating: 5Q/5P

Curricular Connections:  This is an excellent text for teaching students about the atrocities in Rwanda. The graphic novel format is visually stunning and emotionally wrenching. There is also an excellent introduction, which gives students a good background about the history of the Hutu, the Tutsi, and the role of the French in this horrible genocide. This would be a useful text for a High School Political Science class.

Grade Level or Age Range: High School

By: Joanne Maher July 29th, 2009

 

Deogratias: A tale of Rwanda by Jean-Philippe Stassen. New York: First Second, 2006.

ISBN: 978-1-59643-103-4

Annotation: Young Deogratias attempts to come to grips with his country's tragic past, and his own questionable actions, in the wake of the Rwandan genocide.

Age range: 9-12 grades

Media used by illustrator: comic-style, comic

Personal Rating: 4Q/3P

Curricular connections: suitable for an African history class, probably later high school.

 

Literary Device: Symbol - The story's main character is frequently portrayed as a dog, symbolizing his degradation and decreasing sense of humanity.

 

Notes about Themes: The main themes of this book are alienation from the rest of humanity and the ability of a normal human to do terrible things. There is very little hope in this book, and for that reason Deogratias is a pitiable character. However, we are given reason to believe that he is a relatively normal boy, and that makes his transformation into savagery terrifying.

 

ateater/06-20-09

 

 

Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by Stassen, J.P. New York: First Second, 2006.

 

ISBN: 1-59643-103-2

 

 

 

This fictional graphic novel recounts the genocide in Rwanda via the story of a Hutu boy’s relationship with a Tutsi girl, and the social and personal unraveling that ensues when civil war breaks out.

 

 

 

Rating: 4Q/4P

 

Posted by LA 4/5/8

 

 

 

5.18.08 cjm

 

Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda, by J.P. Stasson. First Second, 2006.

Summary: The story of Deogratias, a (fictional) Hutu boy who lived through the Rwandan genocide, is told in a series of flashbacks.

Analysis: This is a very powerful story, but I felt like it was trying too hard to be edgy in its art and storytelling style, and it just ended up being too hard to follow for me. There are very few cues for what time each scene is in, so it was difficult to keep the "past" and "future" storylines straight. The fact that Deogratias has become understandably insane from what he's been through doesn't help. Part of my confusion is probably the fact that I'm still not fluent in the comic medium -- the artwork is beautiful and complex, so I have to really work to be able to take in the words and images at the same time. It might well be more understandable to someone who grew up reading comics, or in a classroom setting where a group was going over and discussing the plot threads page by page. It's very much a story that needs to be told, so I would definitely get this for a collection unless there's as more accessible graphic novel on Rwanda available (or even in addition to, assuming infinite budget). It's conveniently small and therefore not very expensive.

Illustrations: Digital color images, fairly realistic. Many of the scenes take place at night and are often too dark to really see clearly...I'm not sure whether that was intentional.

Rating: 4Q/4P

Curricular connections: 11-12th grade unit on Rwanda.