by Amanda Lewis ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2014
Riveting and heartbreaking alike, especially as readers count down the days to the tragedy they know is coming. (Historical...
Among the many tragedies of World War II, the largely forgotten sinking of a ship that was ferrying 90 young British children to the safety of Canada must be counted.
The City of Benares left port on Sept. 13, 1940, with the children, their volunteer caretakers and some paying passengers, part of a convoy that was supposed to keep them safe. Three days out, the British destroyer left them in the belief that they had reached safe waters. On Sept. 17, the Benares was torpedoed in a storm and sank rapidly. Seventy-seven of the children died, along with six of their 10 escorts. Lewis picks up the tale as children join the evacuation process, focusing on Ken and Bess, whose experiences shine a light on those of the whole “seavacuee” group, and Sonia, whose family has booked paying passage on the ship. Each child’s voice is distinct and believable. Their heroic experiences after the nighttime sinking—Bess surviving by tying herself to an overturned lifeboat, Sonia on a frigid raft, and Ken, whose overfilled lifeboat sails eight days until rescue—are all vividly, harrowingly realized.
Riveting and heartbreaking alike, especially as readers count down the days to the tragedy they know is coming. (Historical fiction. 11 & up)Pub Date: March 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-88995-507-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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by Patricia McCormick ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2012
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers...
A harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields.
The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. McCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. Arn doesn't understand what the Khmer Rouge stands for; he only knows that over the next several years he and the other children shrink away on a handful of rice a day, while the corpses of adults pile ever higher in the mango grove. Arn does what he must to survive—and, wherever possible, to protect a small pocket of children and adults around him. Arn's chilling history pulls no punches, trusting its readers to cope with the reality of children forced to participate in murder, torture, sexual exploitation and genocide. This gut-wrenching tale is marred only by the author's choice to use broken English for both dialogue and description. Chorn-Pond, in real life, has spoken eloquently (and fluently) on the influence he's gained by learning English; this prose diminishes both his struggle and his story.
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers will seek out the history themselves. (preface, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173093-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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by Mackenzi Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 2021
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
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