Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir by Amy Kurzweil

Reviewed by: Madison Rodriguez, Yasamin Sanaiha, Marisol Salemme, and Tayler Schrock

Review:

Amy Kurzweil’s Flying Couch takes the reader on the author’s journey of self discovery as she connects with her Jewish heritage. The audience follows along as Kurzweil learns how she fits within her family tree and how her Jewish ancestry plays a role in her Americanized life.

Author, Amy Kurzweil, at book debut.

Through her journey, she learns about herself and how her ancestry affects her everyday life. The story of how her grandmother survived the Holocaust is told by her grandmother herself through Kurzweil’s research for a college project. We get the first hand account of what Kurzweil’s grandmother went through as Kurzweil writes her report. This helps Kurzweil connect with her grandmother in a way she never had before, while also shedding light on her rather eccentric tendencies. She gains such a respect for her grandmother for what she went through. This puts Kurzweil’s life into perspective for her and shapes the way she lives, as well as her attitude toward her life experiences.
This graphic novel perfectly commingles what it means to be a young person today, concerned with finding your place in the world, but also recognizing the importance of your family history and what your ancestors went through to grant you the privileges you have today. This novel beautifully depicts how one can be inspired to see the world differently or see someone else’s perspective through a better understanding of their own family history. Through Amy Kurzweil’s research of her background, she discovers that her grandmother’s struggle had afforded her many luxuries that she would not have had otherwise. The reader is shown the history of the Holocaust through the perspective of a survivor. Through this vantage point, the history is humanized. This reveals to the audience a personal tone to history that impresses an intimate chord with the reader allowing for the harsh reality of the historical content to resonate. Also explored in the novel is the current climate revolved around the conflict between Israel and Palestine. When on her trip to Israel, Kurzweil is confronted with the severity of the feud between the two nations when she, along with fellow Jewish classmates, visit the border and learn more about their ongoing dispute.

Kurzweil with mother (far left) and grandmother (center).

This text brings to light many struggles that plague childhood in a relatable and intriguing manner. Kurzweil’s journey through her heritage tackles what it means to understand how the past can influence and affect the future. Kurzweil’s audience can connect to her through her traveling back to dark times in her family history in order to emphasize to today’s society the importance of recognizing humanity as significant and precious in hopes of influencing modern struggles. By presenting her journey through a trip on a metaphorical couch, she is honoring her mothers career in psychology and the time she spent with her reflecting on their shared family history. One can easily relate to her search into her family history and how that defines the person she is today. Like many, Kurzweil’s discoveries lead her to better appreciate her family and the compelling journey that brought them together. Biography:

Author of Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir, Amy Kurzweil was born in Newton, Massachusetts to father Raymond Kurzweil and mother Sonya Rosenwald Kurzweil who were raised by parents that had lost everything in the Holocaust. Raymond Kurzweil is an American inventor, futurist, and author of seven books, and Sonya Rosenwald Kurzweil is a psychologist in private practice in Massachusetts at Sonya Kurzweil Developmental Center, a nonprofit organization which

Kurzweil's favorite book as a child.

works with women, children, parents, and families. Amy has a brother, Ethan Kurzweil, who is a Venture Capitalist. Kurzweil is a cartoonist, writer, and teacher of writing and comics. Amy Kurzweil has loved to read from a young age and enjoys literature, “Reading is and was one of my favorite things”. She loves to read books by Roald Dahl and Betty Ren Wright and would get lost in picture books as a child. When asked if she had a favorite book, she replied: “The Philharmonic Gets Dressed”. Although that was her favorite picture book as a child, she also enjoyed reading collections of cartoons like The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes. From a young age, she was interested in writing and followed in the footsteps of her father. When she was in grade school, she started copying themes of text she liked and was familiar with, and enjoyed writing plays. There are two plays that she enjoyed as a child that she mimicked in her early writing ventures. The first play she wrote was “a lot like Annie,” and another play was “a lot like The Baby-Sitters Club”. Amy Kurzweil mentions “Once I wrote a family newspaper for a little while. I would print out my paper and slip it into The Boston Globe on Sundays”. The writer and artist is currently living in Brooklyn where she is teaching at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Amy attended Stanford University for undergraduate and graduated in 2009 with her bachelor's degree. She then continued her education and received her Masters of Fine Arts degree in 2013 from The New School. Kurzweil enjoys writing on authentic topics, especially about her family and the people she knows very well, “I’m really interested in memory, how it works and why we remember what we remember”. Technology is the second type of topic she enjoys to write about, specifically “how it changes our lives and how it affects our relationships with people”.Amy Kurzweil was intrigued by drawing comics, but didn’t have any training in visual arts. She learned how to draw as she was planning the first draft of her book. She reflects on that time saying, “it was fun but very hard”, considering the first draft had to be completely drawn over again. The best working station is her bedroom where she sits at her tilted drawing desk, with her supplies neatly organized in plastic compartments that are strategically placed along the side of her work desk. Along with her work desk, Kurzweil’s mediums include paper, her printer and scanner, and drafts upon drafts of sketches. Amy wrote over 100 cartoons in the summer of 2015 when she met Liana Finck, a cartoonist who informed her that she could introduce her to cartoon editor Bob Mankoff of the My New Yorker. She met and worked with Mankoff to process her cartoons and eventually My New Yorker purchased some of her pieces.

Image of young Kurzweil from book.

The memoir that took eight years to complete received a book deal with Catapult Books. Flying Couch was reviewed by The New York Times and was listed as one of “2016 Season’s Best New Graphic Novels & Editors choice”. The memoir is a Junior Library Guild Selection. It was also awarded Young Adult Library Services Association “2017’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens”. In 2016, Flying Couch was awarded the Foreword INDIES Award Gold Medal. Amy Kurzweil’s art pieces and short stories can be found on her website. She is currently working on two projects. The first project she is working on is a website in which she is going to sell her original art, while the second is her next book. During her free time, Kurzweil loves to dance and mentions, “I started dancing before I started drawing, I used to perform with dance groups and taught dance to kids in schools”. She enjoys days outside the city hiking and spending time in nature. Her next book is going to be called Artificial: a love story.

Instructional Resources:

1) World War II Video

This is an informative video detailing the causes, effects, people and events in World War II. This video makes special use of maps to specially demonstrate the events better. This works well with flying couch as geography plays an important role through out the graphic novel.

2) Holocaust Photo Gallery

Sign reads: "Jews are not welcome here"

This site is called Jewish Virtual Library. It is a gallery of photos on various topics during the Holocaust. These photos illustrate anything from the camps and ghettos to the crimes that occurred. Certain topics can be thematically chosen based on a teacher’s preference for a class.

3) Map of Europe

This would help to track the movement of the grandmother from Germany to Poland. Also useful to understand the location of Israel. Could be used as a mapping activity in class; a way to connect English, history, and geography.

4) Israel-Palestine Video

An animated video about the Palestine and Israel conflict by YouTuber John Green. The video makes good use of animation that can simplify and clarify things for a variety of grade levels.

5) Guide to Teaching the Holocaust

Teaching guidelines for teaching about the Holocaust (the do’s and don’ts). This site’s information comes from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It helps to outline important definitions and warnings. There is also other information available about the museum as well as a page on the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

6) Israel-Palestine Worksheet

A teacher lesson that details a further understanding of the Israel and Palestine conflict. This worksheet helps to highlight important events and vocabulary words.Although it is intended for a World History class, this simple worksheet could be a useful way to combine history with English in a class period or two.

7) Article on Zionism

Zionism becomes an important concept to understand throughout the novel. This website helps to clarify the religious, national, and ideological standpoints of this movement. In summary "Zionists believe Judaism is a nationality as well as a religion, and that Jews deserve their own state in their ancestral homeland".

8) LA Museum of the Holocaust

A website from the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. This site is great for general information, stories, media and much more. Especially useful for those in the LA are who could potentially plan field trips.

9) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A Nazi propaganda poster that says “Who is to blame for the war”. The extreme hate and racism against Jews is highlighted through this poster. It was under this premise that Hitler preached his ideals. This website features a timeline an other photos as well.

10) Museum of Tolerance

Another website that may be useful to teachers regarding the Holocaust and potential field trips. In the museum people are given a card with a Jewish person's photo and name. After they walk through the museum, they find out whether the person on the card they had survived or not. This site also offers many resources for teachers; it contains worksheets, activities, and videos for every grade level.

Instructional Activity: Lesson Plan-

Making Connections: Connecting Flying Couch to our lives

The goal of this unit is to guide the students to make connections to the historical event of the Holocaust and the effects it had on the people who endured it, but also to recognize the effects the event had on the families of those who were there. The students will make connections from the plot of the graphic novel to their own lives through KWL charts, venn diagrams, comic strips, and group sharing.

Common Core Standards-

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.9

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7

Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Activity Description-

-Before reading the graphic novel, the students will be given a KWL chart; they will fill out the “know” and “want to know” sections in class

-After filling out these sections, the students will visit The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students so they can use technology to explore different elements about the Holocaust so they can understand more about the event before reading the graphic novel; they will have prior knowledge so they can understand the characters more so. (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/project/the-holocaust-a-learning-site-for-students?utm_source=WeAreTeachers&utm_medium=ArticleTwo&utm_content=LearningSiteForStudents&utm_campaign=HolocaustMuseumArticles2016

-They will be assigned to independently read Flying Couch over the weekend, ready to discuss when they come back to class on Monday.

-A quote will be posted on the wall when they come in after the weekend: “We must be listened to: above and beyond our personal experience, we have collectively witnessed a fundamental unexpected event, fundamental precisely because unexpected, not foreseen by anyone. It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere.” — Primo Levi; the students will be asked to brainstorm and critically think about how this quote connects to the novel after they have read it and explored the Holocaust learning website.

-After a class discussion about the connections to the quote, the students will be provided two options: Option A. Venn diagram to compare and contrast themselves and their family to Amy’s family in the novel OR Option B. The students can create a Comic Strip utilizing a graphic organizer depicting the comparisons and contrasts between Amy and her family to their own family

-After this activity, the students will return to their KWL chart and fill out the “Learned” section; As their exit ticket out of class, they will share their “learned” sections in groups to each other and then will choose a speaker in their group to share one favorite thing their group chose to share with the entire class

Activity Worksheets-