During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, many sided with the Germans, but many others resisted and created a movement dedicated to sabotage and to the rescue of Jews and Gentiles in danger. Fran and Mies Braal, one such couple, opened their country home to children of Resistance members and to a wounded Canadian airman. Alma tells the true story of this brave family through the voice of an anonymous fictional narrator, using invented dialogue and imagined scenarios to describe daily life in the home. Frightening moments—Nazis on search, false alarms, illness (hepatitis)—punctuate a routine which includes a makeshift education for the children. In her epilogue, the author explains her use of this narrator, whom she would like to “stand for all children who go through war” as a way to tell the real story from a young person’s perspective. However, this fictionalization combined with the real characters and black-and-white historical photographs may leave readers confused about how the nameless, genderless protagonist fits in. (historical note, glossary, further readings) (Fictionalized nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-88899-791-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2008
If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1448-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
A blend of fact and fiction in both text and pictures add up to a resistible invitation to create coded messages by substituting Egyptian hieroglyphics for plain language. In the perfunctory plot, an archeologist acquires a mysterious, veiled helper who guides him from one simple written clue to the next, leading ultimately to an artifact that was stolen and hidden away thousands of years ago. Along the way there’s plenty of opportunity to explain ancient Egyptian writing and funerary customs, to fill page space with small photos or images of surviving or reconstructed tombs, sarcophagi, painted murals and statuary and to practice translating the aforementioned clues. The historical information is easily available elsewhere, and though the downloadable typeface on the embedded CD will make the creation of new messages much less tedious than having to draw hieroglyphics by hand, even dedicated fans of codes and ciphers aren’t likely to give this more than a quick once-over. (Fact/fiction blend. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6411-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2010
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