A poignant and eloquent reflection on tradition, family, friendship, and tragedy.
A young girl’s assumptions about life are challenged by the arrival of a new teacher in Rabin’s historical YA novel.
In Canada’s vast Manitoba prairie sits the fictional town of Ambrosia. It has a thriving Jewish community that’s made up of immigrants who fled the Russian pogroms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s here, in 1948, that readers meet 11-year-old Mira Adler, who narrates this coming-of-age tale. She’s a happy, imaginative youngster who attends the Peretz School, a learning center that teaches “English” studies in the morning and Jewish studies in the afternoon. The latter classes are taught primarily in Yiddish, a language that Rabin uses liberally in dialogue and narration throughout the novel, always followed by helpful translation. Mira states that “my world was an untroubled one, and in my naiveté and innocence, I assumed that it was the same for everyone.” That changes after the arrival of Chaver Bergman, a new, young Yiddish teacher. “There was something affecting and melancholy about him,” Mira says, “engendering rachmonos(pity) rather than gleeful mischief.” When he offers Mira private violin lessons, they build a friendship that leads him to share the story of his tragic past. Born in Czechoslovakia, he’s a tormented, guilt-ridden Holocaust survivor who was once a virtuoso violinist but no longer plays. His instruction is verbal, inspiring Mira with visual images of music that inflect Rabin’s prose with moments of beauty with joyful and mournful tones: “He told me to imagine leaves swirling in the wind when playing Vivaldi’s ‘Autumn’ from The Four Seasons, each little leaf being carried aloft on a current of cool air.” Her descriptions of daily life, traditional foods, and celebrations paint an evocative portrait of second-generation Jewish diaspora life in the West. And Mira’s growing awareness of anti-Semitism outside her small enclave provides readers with a timely reminder of the need to remain vigilant against bigotry. Overall, it’s a compelling work with a wistful longing for days of childhood innocence.
A poignant and eloquent reflection on tradition, family, friendship, and tragedy.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5255-7636-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
A suspenseful and evocative gothic mystery.
Amid a murder investigation, a teen orphan finds herself heir to a multimillion-dollar estate.
On Washington State’s Orcas Island in 1918, 18-year-old Lucy Nowhere enjoys the nature surrounding her but dreams of leaving, seeing the world, and attending the University of Washington. Discovered adrift in a canoe as a newborn, Lucy was taken in by the wealthy, reclusive shipbuilding magnate Mr. Dakon Sanders, who made her a servant—and gave her an education—on his large estate, which he named Nowhere. Blond, blue-eyed Mr. Sanders disapproves of her going to college. He shocks Lucy with the revelation that he knew her father—and promises to tell her more if she stays. That evening, she finds Mr. Sanders’ decapitated head floating in the marina, and her hopes of finding answers about her identity are dashed. When it emerges that Lucy will inherit everything, she realizes she must stay and uncover what’s going on. With a growing list of suspects, more suspicious events occurring on the island, and rumors of the involvement of the “half eagle and half fish” demon Orkus and his army of “sea wolves,” Lucy must uncover secrets and find the killer before she becomes the next victim. Against a beautifully described natural setting, Lee creates a dark, haunting, suspense-filled atmosphere with a touch of the supernatural. Combining science and myth, this is an exciting story with a multiethnic cast that explores identity, friendship, trust, and caring for nature.
A suspenseful and evocative gothic mystery. (author’s note) (Historical mystery. 12-18)Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781665978965
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Sarah Barley Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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