Review of Run and Hide

Run and Hide Run and Hide
by Don Brown; illus. by the author
Middle School, High School    Clarion/HarperCollins    192 pp.
10/23    9780358538165    $22.99
e-book ed.  9780358538608    $10.99

Brown (recently 83 Days in Mariupol, rev. 7/23) applies his signature graphic-nonfiction approach to the rescue of Jewish young people during the Holocaust through various means, including hiding and evacuation. Sequences about broader historical events set the scene before Brown turns focus to individual human stories, showing poignant moments as parents and children say what may be final goodbyes. The varied panel layouts in Brown’s digital illustrations employ a muted palette, making the occasional exceptions (red Nazi armbands and flags; the Reichstag fire) especially striking. Real quotes shown in speech bubbles lend immediacy. Though there are hopeful elements in the stories of people helping one another, the book doesn’t shy away from painful truths; several powerful wordless spreads near the end depict the fate of many of those left behind. Back matter includes an afterword, source notes, and a bibliography.

From the November/December 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

Shoshana Flax

Shoshana Flax, associate editor of The Horn Book, Inc., is a former bookseller and holds an MFA in writing for children from Simmons University. She has served on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and Sydney Taylor Book Award committees, and is serving on the 2025 Walter Dean Myers Award committee.

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