Barefoot Gen Response

Barefoot Gen is the story of a boy named Gen who lived in Hiroshima during the second world war.  The graphic novel is read much like any anime comic, from left panel to right panel, then down.  The story follows Gen through the days leafing up to the attack on Hiroshima.  throughout the story you become closer to the characters, especially the younger brother and the pregnant mother.  The universal theme of family plays a huge role in the connections perceived by the reader.  The family could've easily been of any ethnicity, with the way they stuck together as a family and exemplified universal qualities of a family.  The novel may not be appropriate to some high school students, there is nudity in a portion of the story when Eiko is be charged with theft.  The story would connect with students who have lost loved ones, primarily during times of war.  The story would also help to show the other side of World War Two's havoc on the world and not show the United States as the sole bearer of pain and grief.  This is my second time reading the novel and anyone would take pity and sympathize with someone like Gen who had to endear so much at such a young age.  He had to grow up fast when his family was burned to death leaving his mother and unborn sister to his care.  Students reading the story may see someone their age who has lived more then they, or has dealt with things beyond comprehension in hopes to empower them.