Book 51 - Two Cents Plain
Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood by Martin Lemelmen
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My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A truly stunning graphic novel with excellent black and white drawings, photographs, and collages. The narrative is very personal and it's easy to feel like a part of the Lemelmen family as you read about their struggles in Brooklyn. Martin's parents are Holocaust survivors, and when they make a life for themselves and have a family in America, there are still some Old World customs they can't quite leave behind them. And around them, America is changing - the neighborhood that started out a friendly place when they first opened a candy store there becomes a place where racial tensions and crime run rampant.