Themes of prejudice, friendship, kindness, truth, and wartime inhumanity thread this heartfelt story.
“To become friends with your supposed enemy during wartime was a kind of miracle.”
On board the Lusitania in 1915, 12-year-old Marta’s father is arrested for being German—just before a German torpedo sinks the ship. Trying to find Papa, traumatized Marta makes her way to York, England, where Germans are being interned. There, she encounters Irish-born Clare O’Sullivan, claims to be Dutch, and ends up living with the poor but generous O’Sullivans. Throughout, Marta struggles to reconcile many contradictory thoughts and experiences: her disparaging beliefs about the English and Irish, the anti-German hatred she encounters, the many kindnesses she receives, and the fact that her beloved homeland’s navy attacked a civilian ship. Above all, how can Marta and German-hating Clare ever be best friends when Marta feels unable to share the truth about her story? And will Marta ever get home again? Superlative worldbuilding characterizes this World War I story, from heart-pounding descriptions of the Lusitania’s sinking to Marta’s observant explorations in York and evocative memories of Germany and her family. The main characters are distinctive and layered, all holding the prejudices and kindnesses that drive the story. While the writing clearly shows the incidents that created Marta’s inner turmoil, it can be occasionally heavy-handed in spelling out those feelings, rather than trusting readers to draw their own conclusions. Nevertheless, readers will root for the girls’ friendship.
Themes of prejudice, friendship, kindness, truth, and wartime inhumanity thread this heartfelt story. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593623046
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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