This is a beautifully illustrated book with an incredibly timely message about advocating for social progress while keeping yourself safe.

Like all memoirs of real people, the ending feels incomplete, but Babis is trying hard to ring meaning out of her narrative.

Babis finds solidarity in the tight-knit group of women who have been supporting her since HS, even while all of them have lived through dramatic changes and patriarchal violence, even from men they considered allies in the fight to move Poland forward.

Babis includes enough explanations of Polish politics that a reader unfamiliar with the history can follow along with the larger context of her friend group's journey.

The scene at the end with one of Babis' oldest friends, carefully coded to be recognizable despite lots of changes, makes this an especially poignant read for June 🫶. I wish both of them many years of happiness.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Breadcrumbs is a graphic memoir about coming of age in post-Soviet Poland. Simple illustrations pair with informative text to show how history, politics, and generational trauma affected the author and her friends as they grew up. While I had some difficulty following the time skips and keeping track of similar-looking characters, I learned a lot from this book and recommend it to folks looking to read about current/recent events and social justice activism.

Thank you to First Second Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC. This soon to be published graphic-book is a coming-of-age memoir that takes place in post-communist Poland. The author, Kasia Babis, takes on a journey from just after the fall of communism to present day Poland. My biggest concern was that it was so episodic in nature, it felt jarring at times as she moved time-frames, and maybe more so because it is in graphic form, where as a straight-forward narrative may have been able to more contextualize and smooth those transitions. I appreciated the illustrative style, especially with the black and white with splashes of red for emphasis, although at times it was hard to distinguish and keep track of the various characters. While I have lived through this era as an adult, it was interesting to get a glimpse beyond just the sound-bights that have made national news that explores life and politics in post-communism Poland. It is a cautionary tale, too as what they went through is eerily similar to what our country is currently experiencing from state and national leaders. It is a quick read, as I read it on an hour-and-a-half flight today.

I thought this was extremely well done. Very thoughtful in its presentation of historical material, I loved the artwork and the usage of the color red as a symbol in the story. Kasia's story, intertwined with the history of Poland, is an inspirational and very interesting one that I think would be very relevant for many, especially with the state of the world today currently.

A thoughtful and fascinating coming of age story. In telling her specific story about growing up in post-Soviet Poland, Kaila Babis touches on universal themes readers can relate with: generation gaps, finding oneself against religious oppression, and developing a political consciousness. This book is ideal for fans of Persepolis.

A memoir from Poland that could be used to mirror what's happening in the US right now. Blending memoir with small history lessons, this graphic novel tells the story of 4 women who remain friends throughout their lives. It's also a coming of age story, and a story of resistance. It gives hope, and showcases their fortitude. The artwork is beautiful and minimalistic with coloring, but the coloring that does show through, the red, is symbolically placed throughout the book.

Would recommend for people interested in modern history of other countries, and what's been happening recently regarding women's rights and LGBTQ rights.

Kasia Babis's Breadcrumbs provides an interesting insight into the culture of post-soviet Poland. The task of such a text is always a challenging one, as it needs to educate the reader on the historical events within which the text takes place, while also conveying the life details of the narrator. Babis does a good job of balancing these, although I did wish that the text was longer/ more detailed.

Breadcrumbs may be about growing up in Poland after the fall of the USSR, but it is very relevant to current America. I loved the history, the story, and I liked Babis. She was interesting and I liked listening to her take on Polish history. Even though the art style faltered in showing different characters, I enjoyed the different points of view of the three women.

Breadcrumbs is a good book to add to your collection if graphic memoirs or graphic nonfiction. Highly recommend reading for the content.

I really appreciated this detailed look at growing up in Poland amidst political upheaval. It feels very timely for me as an American reader. I liked the illustrations and found a poignant read good for older teens as well as adults.

Netgalley provided me with an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This turned out to be an extremely standard coming of age tale with unremarkable illustrations. While I appreciated the background into Polish politics, it was nothing exceptional.

Breadcrumbs describes a period in time little known to most Americans. Babis is able to discuss the early days after the fall of the soviet government in Poland. Having almost no knowledge of this time period in this particular part of the world, Breadcrumbs shows the struggles that post-soviet Polish people dealt with both politically, economically, and personally.

I think the art style is what really did this book a disservice because it was so hard to distinguish the characters and they always looked like teenagers no matter the year which made the pacing and timing of the events also hard to follow, then the pops of red from the mostly black and white art came far too often to have any significance or weight. It was interesting to learn about the history though, and scary to see how much history just repeats itself, but I could not keep track of anything happening in the memoir part

but remember kids, the next time you think, the government wouldn't do that, oh yes they would

Graphic novel set in Poland as the country changes from communism to capitalism. Seen through the eyes of a young woman

This vivid story provides an overview of modern Polish history from the perspective of the author. While that story isn't a pleasant one, the author's reflections make the history feel much more personal.

Babis's story, set against the historical background of post-Soviet Poland, feels alarmingly familiar to the political climate we find ourselves in today, which feels like the exigence for this short graphic memoir. Throughout the story, Babis recounts her life and the people surrounding her as they navigate a culture that runs against their beliefs and morals, which in her thesis Babis claims is the result of men's anger.

Prior to reading this, I was unfamiliar with Poland and its cultural/social movements in the 80s and 90s. I'm sure this text will remain center in my mind over the next few years. I didn't, however, enjoy the art style as much as other graphic novels. I found some of the characters too similar in facial structure and the structure of the main narrative visually wasn't super compelling. I did love the illustrations and layout for the pages that explained the historical backdrop more.

We gain insight into the transition from a teen experiencing the moment. Kasia shares the impact on her parents and family as Poland is freed from Soviet rule and transitions from communism to capitalism. Vignettes highlight how the change impacts Kasia throughout her life.

Kasia artfully relies on the reader to read images adding meaning to this profound memoir. The minimalist greyscale artwork is exceptional, with moments of emotion-heavy red that draw attention to generational trauma.

Great for fans of Persepolis historical graphic novels.

Thank you to First Second Books and NetGalley for the advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Breadcrumbs is an emotional memoir laced with deep historical context for fans of Persepolis and other graphic memoirs. The story follows Kaisa as she grows up in an ever-changing Poland, moving from a communist political system to a capitalist system. If you've never been educated on the work going on in Poland to change a system, let this be your guide. Babis' coming-of-age tale weaves in context ranging from slightly before she was born, to present day.

Babis is a normal teenage girl who befriends a group of other girls when she moves to a new village. These friends have great personalities, and the drawing style for each of them reminds you of a cartoon character in a mid-2000s show (not a bad thing). Their friendship is realistic and supportive, and demonstrates the highs and lows of a companionship that lasts through several decades. It is highly relatable and quite touching in that aspect. As Kaisa becomes older, she grows out of her shell and becomes a prominent and outspoken activist in Poland. Her fight is quite the battle, and I see reflections in the Polish government to modern-day America.

The dialogue is quick-witted and theatrical but can be deep when necessary. Perhaps the strongest aspect of the novel is Kaisa's drawing style, with minimal color throughout except for emotionally-jarring splashes of red to represent sources of trauma but also generational trauma. This was a topic that could have used some more refining, I could see what Babis was going for here but would have liked some more direct connection to the experience she was trying to portray with her parents and their trauma.

Breadcrumbs is real, relatable, and hopeful. The art style is visually pleasing but fits for the theme and message of the book. Readers will be hungry for more historical graphic novels from Babis after reading it--I know I certainly am.

I found this graphic novel to be an interesting look at life in Poland after Soviet rule. The art was interesting, but I found it difficult to connect with and care about the characters in such limited vignettes.

I really enjoyed how this graphic memoir feels as if the author is recounting her story while we are hanging out. The time jumps and "getting ahead" feel so natural and familiar. (Speaking of familiar, so much of this feels, unfortunately, very timely.) I loved the grayscale + red artwork. The art was lovely despite the often unlovely content of the story and I think the story was captured well by limiting color. While I knew a lot about Poland during WWII, I was lacking in knowledge of Poland during this time period and Kasia's story really paints the picture of it. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I wanted to connect more with this story, as I think it is one I did not grow up hearing about, and I would love for young library patrons to have mpre exposure and understanding to global issues and their influence on coming of age stories. Yet I found the art sharp, dull at times, and while the re accents were striking at times, not quite sufficient. The pacing was scattered and it was challenging to keep track of characters at time, but I think the story will connect with some readers.