An affecting wartime reflection for young readers.
Black-Gould’s debut illustrated children’s book adapts her short story about a Jewish girl, her mother, and a Catholic nun.
In 1939 Poland, a Jewish woman teaches her daughter, Lalka, Catholic protocols in “a special game,” preparing her for her upcoming time in hiding. The mother plans to temporarily leave her daughter at a church one winter day: “She laid the scarf on the kitchen table and sprinkled the few remaining drops of lavender on the wool. Then she wrapped the scarf around my neck. ‘You will always have this memory.’ ” In her new home, the girl attends classes with other children, and the mother visits her daughter regularly for several weeks, but then the visits stop. One day, Sister Teresa tells the girl that “two men wearing long black leather coats and dark hats” are in her office. As she’s questioned relentlessly by the Nazis, she begins praying. The men throw her Star of David necklace (a gift from her father before he died) to the ground and upset her by saying she’s committing a sin if she doesn’t tell the truth about her religion. After they leave, the girl is confused and frightened: “Through my tears, I glanced at the crystal beads in my hand and the gold necklace in hers. ‘Sister,’ I asked. ‘Which one of these is the sin?’ ” Black-Gould, in a powerful adaptation of her short story that first appeared in the journal Jewish Fiction.net, adeptly demonstrates the fear felt by the young girl in the final scene: “Drops of water slinked like snakes down the leather” of her interrogator’s coat. Royz’s illustrations complement the text beautifully, with soft, homey scenes of the mother and daughter, depictions of the mother’s deep concern, and images of the Nazis, which all draw the reader into this emotional work. An afterword details a remarkable real-life story of how children at Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee created a Holocaust memorial, followed by study-guide questions for children and adults.
An affecting wartime reflection for young readers.Pub Date: June 14, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-955119-20-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Purple Butterfly Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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
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