David and Jonathan

by Cynthia Voigt

A survivor of the holocaust, David is an elusive, isolated young man whose painful history haunts the people around him. Jonathan, his cousin, and the rest of the Nafiche family take him in as one of their own. But why has he been kept a secret for so long

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Holocaust, Novels

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse.


Awards:
Angus and Sadie: the Sequoyah Book Award (given by readers in Oklahoma), 2008
The Katahdin Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Anne V. Zarrow Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Margaret Edwards Award, for a body of work, 1995
Jackaroo: Rattenfanger-Literatur Preis (ratcatcher prize, awarded by the town of Hamlin in Germany), 1990
Izzy, Willy-Nilly: the Young Reader Award (California), 1990
The Runner: Deutscher Jungenliteraturpreis (German young people's literature prize), 1988
Zilverengriffel (Silver Pen, a Dutch prize), 1988
Come a Stranger: the Judy Lopez Medal (given by readers in California), 1987
A Solitary Blue: a Newbery Honor Book, 1984
The Callender Papers: The Edgar (given by the Mystery Writers of America), 1984
Dicey's Song: the Newbery Medal, 1983

Reviews

[meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a weird little book! I grabbed it at random out of a little free library thinking it would either be a homoerotic retelling of the David and Jonathan bible story or like a dark and twisted psychological friendship thriller and it’s kind of both? and also neither? Simultaneously, how is this a YA novel and also why don’t they write them like this anymore!?

Parts of this were incredibly brilliant and other parts were just confusing and some of the darker heavier topics are handled very well and some of them very much are not. On the whole though I really loved the writing and I mostly loved the book

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in the early 1950s (with a prologue and epilogue in Vietnam), David and Jonathan tells the story of two best friends, Jon and Henry. When Jon's cousin David, a holocaust survivor, moves in with him, Henry's life is changed forever.

I spent most of this book waiting for something to happen. Not much did. 80% of it is David, Henry, and Jon waxing poetic about life and morality and the universe. It's excruciatingly boring. No real person talks like this, especially not real teen boys. Jon is supposed to be a joker, the comic relief. Sometimes his little quips were funny, other times they felt too twee and manufactured to be real. On the whole, I just found him annoying. To say nothing of his endless 'parables'- Jon has one for seemingly every situation and can somehow make them up on the spot. There’s very little plot here. I don’t mind books that are more character-driven, but I didn’t care about any of these characters.

I really can’t believe Henry and Jon are friends (let alone close friends) because Jon always belittles him and treats him like shit. I’m sure it’s supposed to seem playful and boyish but the dynamic always came off as toxic to me. I can't say I particularly liked Henry either. He's so passive, lacks agency, and lets other people control his life. Henry eventually breaks free of David’s control, but it’s written in the most anticlimactic and unsatisfying way. Henry has a...Complicated relationship with David. He's attracted to him but struggles with his sexual feelings for him. He also pities him because he's a holocaust survivor who lost his entire family. I had a hard time believing David was a holocaust survivor, he felt more like a sociopath to me.

Your mileage may vary on this, but it felt a little TOO sexually explicit for a book aimed at teens. There’s a scene where Henry has a wet dream about David. David and Jonathan is a very strange book. I'm not sure who it's for or what it's trying to say. I think Voigt tried to tackle a lot of big issues in this book: the Holocaust, homosexuality, abortion, and the Vietnam War. That's commendable, but none of these subjects are given the respect and maturity they deserve.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so much depth, I still reread it regularly 20 years on from when I first picked it up. I love Voigt's characterisation and her portrayal of the suicidal member of the family and the impact this has on everyone is scarily accurate.

[Sophia Barsuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updated review of September 13, 2025: Bumping this up to a five after six years, learning to separate my personal experiences from the experiences of the characters, and many more books under my belt. Yes, this should not be your first Cynthia Voigt book (like I said before, start with Homecoming or Jackaroo; I’d also recommend By Any Name if you want something for adults) but if you’re already a fan, or if you’re just looking for some of the best YA out there, definitely check this out. She is one of my favorite authors ever and not enough people know about her.

Original review of May 27, 2019: If you're just starting on your Cynthia Voigt journey, don't start with this book. Start with Homecoming, or maybe Jackaroo, because those books are much easier to swallow than this one.

This book was hard and beautiful and heart-breaking. Some parts of it, some of the cruelty, were too close to my own experiences, so I could not really distance myself from them. Also, this book takes your typical Voigt philosophical conversation and cranks it up to 11, which is great but also takes some getting used to. It wasn't what I thought it would be, but it was lovely.

[Erin Guinevere · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up in a free book giveaway in the city centre, thinking it was a brilliant find. While this was entertaining and interesting enough, a lot of the time I was either bored and fed up with the characters, or had absolutely no idea what was going on.

[Cyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A challenging book both textually and thematically, but worth the effort.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry and Jonathan have been friends forever, even though they are very different. When David enters the scene, things begin to change. David is a survivor of the Holocaust who has spent time in a mental institute. Because he is Jonathan's cousin, it is Jonathan who must be his guardian. But Henry soon notices that David wants to drag Jonathan down with him and only Henry can stop it from happening.

[Tanja Berg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hated this book. The themes were much too complicated for my 14-year old mind. I might have a different opinion if I re-read it as an adult - but I'm not going to waste my time doing so. The book was later removed from the school library for being too explicit.

[anna b · Rating 2 out of 5]

there is a complete lack of boy-kissing in this book.

also, the dialogue was really hard for me to follow at times. they just didn't always talk like teenage boys, which I know they're not supposed to because they've been through so much, but still. I still felt sad at the right parts.

[Xondra Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange book. I'm not sure what the point of the story was. Friendship?