“It’s a pretty long story,” Primo Levi tells a classroom of children, “so I’ll try to make it simple.” Translated from the original Italian, this hauntingly illustrated comic tells the story of the Italian Jewish chemist who survived the camps at Auschwitz against all odds. Matteo Mastragostino draws on historical research, interviews, and Levi’s own landmark books to piece together a fictionalized yet profoundly intimate portrait of a courageous figure. In the scene that emerges, Levi visits a group of schoolchildren to retell his life story and keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, answering innocent questions with hard truths. Sobering yet tender, Primo Levi extends a rare opportunity for readers both young and old to deepen their understanding of life, death, and the human spirit.
