Presented as the first-person diary of Hannah Green, 13, during the months of December and January 1862–63, a recounting of what happens to the only Jewish family in Holly Springs, Mississippi, when they were forced to leave. Ulysses Grant, preparing for the second siege of Vicksburg, issued General Order #11, which evacuated Jews from the territory under his command because he wrongly considered all to be profiteers. (President Lincoln soon overturned the order.) As the family, which supports the cause of the Confederacy and also holds slaves, flees, Hannah begins to comprehend that Jews are being treated in the same way as African-Americans and she starts to develop some understanding and sympathy for those to whom she had always felt superior. But Matas’s work of historical fiction doesn’t read like the diary of a girl; rather, it is the work of an author who never finds the right voice for the cardboard characters, especially the unsympathetic Hannah (who endlessly reminds the reader that she is a “Southern lady”) and some of the stereotyped “Yankees” and “Rebs.” Although the history is accurate, the book is turgid and off-putting. (Historical fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82935-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-395-53680-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Navigating this stunning novel requires thought and concentration, but it’s well worth the effort.
Returning to themes she explored so affectingly in Moon Over Manifest (2011), Newbery Medalist Vanderpool delivers another winning picaresque about memories, personal journeys, interconnectedness—and the power of stories.
Thirteen-year-old Jack enters boarding school in Maine after his mother’s death at the end of World War II. He quickly befriends Early Auden, a savant whose extraordinary facility with numbers allows him to “read” a story about “Pi” from the infinite series of digits that follow 3.14. Jack accompanies Early in one of the school crew team’s rowing boats on what Jack believes is his friend’s fruitless quest to find a great bear allegedly roaming the wilderness—and Early’s brother, a legendary figure reportedly killed in battle. En route, Early spins out Pi’s evolving saga, and the boys encounter memorable individuals and adventures that uncannily parallel those in the stories. Vanderpool ties all these details, characters, and Jack’s growing maturity and self-awareness together masterfully and poignantly, though humor and excitement leaven the weighty issues the author and Jack frequently pose. Some exploits may strain credulity; Jack’s self-awareness often seems beyond his years, and there are coincidences that may seem too convenient. It’s all of a piece with Vanderpool’s craftsmanship. Her tapestry is woven and finished off seamlessly. The ending is very moving, and there’s a lovely, last-page surprise that Jack doesn’t know but that readers will have been tipped off about.
Navigating this stunning novel requires thought and concentration, but it’s well worth the effort. (author’s note, with questions and answers, list of resources) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-385-74209-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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