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THE UNSIGNED VALENTINE

Name: THE UNSIGNED VALENTINE
Author: Johanna Hurwitz
ISBN: 0-06-056053-3

AND OTHER EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF EMMA MEADE

by Johanna Hurwitz & illustrated by Mary Azarian ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2006

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Hurwitz continues her early 20th-century series begun in Faraway Summer (1998), focusing on Emma’s coming-of-age year when she turns 16. It is one year later as Emma records life on her Vermont farm and small community from early fall through a harsh winter into early spring. Weaving in and around certain true historical events of the area, Emma’s story is one of hard work, responsibility and a budding romance—all amid family needs and parental expectations through a long drought season followed by a dangerously wet destructive spring flood. As in the previous installment, Hurwitz renders a fine look into the era and setting in her easy, smooth writing style, peppered with the dilemmas of a young woman’s role within society and family, her intrigue about courtship and jealousy and the perils of Vermont blizzards. An author’s note provides a nice explanation and rationale for her approach to the story’s events. Azarian’s black-and-white illustrations complement the overall mood. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-06-056053-3

Page Count: 176

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DOUBLE OR NOTHING WITH THE TWO AND ONLY KELLY TWINS
by Johanna Hurwitz ; illustrated by Tuesday Mourning

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TWO AND ONLY KELLY TWINS
by Johanna Hurwitz ; illustrated by Tuesday Mourning

- BOOK REVIEW
I FOOLED YOU
edited by Johanna Hurwitz

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THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE

by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2024

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.

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Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.

Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)