LONG SUMMER NIGHTS

Name: LONG SUMMER NIGHTS
Author: Aharon Appelfeld
ISBN: 978-1-60980-898-3

by Aharon Appelfeld ; illustrated by Vali Mintzi ; translated by Jeffrey Green ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 27, 2019

While some will find the story profoundly moving, overall this is a ponderous and outmoded narrative for a niche audience.

bookshelf

Holocaust survivor Appelfeld’s (The Man Who Never Stopped Sleeping, 2017, etc.) posthumous middle-grade novel.

When Jewish Michael is still a boy, his father sends him to assume a gentile identity as Yanek and live on the road under the guidance of Grandpa Sergei, a Ukrainian former employee and soldier. Their relationship is mutually beneficial: Grandpa Sergei is blind and appreciates assistance in navigating the countryside while Yanek needs help surviving as a wanderer. Grandpa Sergei has one goal: to deliver his charge safely home after World War II is over. Along the way, he shares his insights with Yanek, training him to fight for justice. Appelfeld’s prose, translated from Hebrew, is spare, slow, and matter-of-fact. Focusing on the wisdom of Grandpa Sergei, who at one time wanted to be a priest, the narrative is heavily religious, and lessons are presented with little subtlety. Ableist language, while perhaps historically accurate, is used throughout, and there is a particularly surprising scene in which Grandpa Sergei casually endorses statutory rape. Contemporary readers who are unaware of the historical context and changing gender norms may struggle to make sense of the repeated message that crying denotes weakness. Characters default to white.

While some will find the story profoundly moving, overall this is a ponderous and outmoded narrative for a niche audience. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-60980-898-3

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers

Review Posted Online: July 12, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ADAM AND THOMAS
by Aharon Appelfeld ; illustrated by Philippe Dumas ; translated by Jeffrey M. Green

bookshelf

THE SCHOOL FOR THIEVES

From the School for Thieves series , Vol. 1

by Peter Burns ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2025

A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series.

bookshelf

An orphaned street urchin is recruited into an elite school for thieves.

In an alternate world where France is the dominant world power, 13-year-old Tom Morgan has had to scrimp, starve, and steal on the streets of London to survive. Born into a workhouse, he doesn’t know anything about his father, while his mother may have been from North Africa. One thing he does know is the sort of cruelty that awaits the poor who are sent to the workhouse, and he’s determined not to go back. But when their camp is raided and his friends are captured by workhouse agents, the only thing Tom can think of is how to get them out. Enter the Corsair, a cunning and mysterious man with a proposition: He wants to recruit Tom into Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts. From nabbing treasures to forging identity papers, Beaufort’s promises to teach Tom everything he needs to know to become a Shadow Thief and a member of the Shadow League, the secret global organization that helps keep the world’s political power in balance. But Beaufort’s has its own rules and secrets, and if Tom is to survive long enough to help his friends, he’ll need to figure them out quickly. Clever and gripping, this fast-paced boarding school story will appeal to fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society and Spy School series.

A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series. (Adventure. 10-14)