14-Year-Old Christopher Huh Debuts KEEPING MY HOPE, A Historical Fiction Graphic Novel About the Holocaust

Related: fiction

Christopher Huh, an 8th grade middle school student, has just published a new hand-drawn historical fiction graphic novel about the Holocaust, Keeping My Hope. To write Keeping My Hope, Christopher spent over 1,000 hours conducting research on WWII and the Holocaust. It took him about a year and a half to complete the book.

The storyline circles around the life of Ari. Ari is a teenager whose entire life is turned upside down by the horrors of the Holocaust. He and his family are torn apart and moved to Auschwitz, where the reader gains an inside look at what prisoners in the concentration camps suffered through. However, even with these atrocities, the power of friendship shines through and gives Ari hope to keep surviving through the darkest blizzards of terror. Informative yet touching, Keeping My Hope spreads the message of how powerfully racism and prejudice can affect those around us.

Christopher says, "I started out writing Keeping My Hope just for myself. I wanted to organize and retain the knowledge that I gained from my research by creating an illustrated story. By creating these characters and giving them life, I felt like I was participating in history. Learning about WWII and the Holocaust in this way was not only fun for me but also helped me to remember what I'd learned. As the pages accumulated, I began to show my drawings to people around me and after much support, I decided to turn my work into a published book. I hope to share the valuable lessons I have learned through my book."

His teacher Ms. Schiller says, "This is one-of-a-kind book. Christopher has captured history in a new way, reaching out to the younger generation. Readers of all ages will be touched by the story."

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