A moving tale of ordinary soldiers in a great conflict who find solace in music.
One song was embraced by both sides of the very bloody conflict: “Home Sweet Home.”
In December 1862, Union troops fought Confederate troops along the Rappahannock River in Virginia at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Levy’s narrative of the fighting is brief but detailed; she focuses her attention on the young combatants who faced harsh winter conditions in camp and who wrote letters home and sang spirited war songs to cheer their efforts. On both sides, their days were filled with music: music for waking up, music for eating, and music for cleaning up. “Dixie,” sung by the South, was answered by “Yankee Doodle,” sung by the North. But Christmas was coming, and one song, which originated in an opera, was soon voiced by both sides: “Home Sweet Home.” The message of the song—longing for home and family—was poignant; still, the fighting soon resumed. Excerpts from letters as well as verses and musical notations from the songs intersperse the pages and reinforce the humanity that could be present on the battlefield. The softly textured illustrations in blue and orange provide views of the fighting, the soldiers, and the encampments, Ford’s lines giving everything a homespun feel.
A moving tale of ordinary soldiers in a great conflict who find solace in music. (notes on the war, the battle, the song, Civil War timeline, bibliography, quotation sources) (Informational picture book. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2598-6
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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