Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin Who Ignited World War I

Witnessing the 9/11 attacks in New York City made author-illustrator Rehr wish “to better understand what drives people to become terrorists,” he explains in an afterword. In this he succeeds brilliantly, following Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip’s long journey toward the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand with penetrating sensitivity, without glorifying his deed. The tale begins in Bosnia, then a poverty-stricken region filled with despair. When Princip, at his brother’s dinner table, calls the fear of God a power wielded by the ruling class, his sister-in-law remonstrates. “Talking like that, you’ll end up in hell,” she says. “I’m a Bosnian Serb,” Princip retorts. “I already am.” In panels overhung with shadows, Rehr lays out the development of Princip’s ideological convictions and contrasts his life with sunny pictures of the Archduke’s. Not even a love affair—imagined with credible warmth and passion—turns Princip from his goal. Just as ably, Rehr follows the train of events that led to the Archduke’s vulnerability in Sarajevo. All of these threads combine to form a work of power and force, one that will stay with readers long after they finish it. Ages 13–up. (Apr.)■