Adolescence (Jew in Communist Prague) (v. 2)
The second volume of Italian master cartoonist Vittorio  Giardino's powerfulA Jew in Communist Praguefinds the main  character, Jonas Finkel, still patiently waiting for word on his  father's imprisonment. After much ill luck at a variety of odd jobs,  Jonas finds employment first as a working-class laborer and then at a  bookstore, where he can again pursue his love of books (his education  was previously stunted by the racially motivated actions of the  state). The beauty ofAdolescence--even more than Giardino's  wonderfully realistic drawings--is in the relationships he reveals:  Jonas's friendship with a kind, middle-aged drunk in the labor yards;  the supportive fatherly role of the bookstore owner; and Jonas's  awkward connection to a group of young radicals bent on reading  anything and everything that the government bans. Giardino lays down  slices of life like jewels along a dusty path.