“Noonday sun now.”

From Julia Billet’s Catherine’s War.

As a young Jewish girl separated from her parents in German-occupied France, Rachel has spent several years living at a group home that is unique both in the views the teachers hold about the government and the freedom that the students have. Rachel spends her days with her friends, using her camera to capture the special moments around her. Although when the Nazi policies become more extreme, the teachers change Rachel’s name to Catherine and send her to a Catholic school in the free zone to hide out the rest of the war. While at the school, Catherine makes several friends including the sweet little Jewish girl Alice, but Catherine’s time there is short-lived as government officials soon visit the school to check papers. The nuns quickly send Catherine and Alice to a small farm to hide out, asking Catherine to look out for the little girl as a sister through the remainder of their dangerous secret existence. While the girls try to keep their real identities secret through many dangers, Catherine continues to seek opportunities to capture on film the special moments that surround her, even in the midst of a terrible war.

This graphic novel is a captivating look at some of the heartbreaking struggles that countless individuals faced all across Europe during the treacherous World War II. To convey all the happenings of this story, the book is a bit longer, which could be a hinderance for younger readers, but the novelization of this inspiring true story will be impossible to put down for middle grade and older readers. Catherine’s War is an inspiring story, especially when coupled with the illustrations that instantly transport the reader to a war-torn France.