“I wonder if there’s a place for my story in your world,” writes Nopi. Stories like this at least help to ensure that there...
Despite the flip title, a harsh picture of civil war in Liberia as seen through the eyes of two children.
Marked by sudden violence and a pervasive sense of uncertainty, the alternating accounts of Nopi, 10 at the beginning, and her little brother Lucky, take both children through eight years of brutal treatment as the two are snatched out of school by soldiers and forced to fight. Ultimately the two survive, scarred by their experiences (and left deaf from a beating, in Nopi’s case) but perhaps not permanently damaged, and they are joyfully reunited with their parents. De Graaf bases her episodic, present-tense narratives on interviews with Liberian children and adds an informational appendix with photos that not only lays out Liberia’s troubled history (up to 2006, when the original Dutch edition of the book was published) but also includes upbeat drawings and letters from young survivors.
“I wonder if there’s a place for my story in your world,” writes Nopi. Stories like this at least help to ensure that there are. (map, websites) (Historical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5406-3
Page Count: 125
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
Tender and thought-provoking but wobbling on a shaky moral compass
A shy, injured Jewish teen travels from Berkeley’s 1964 student protests to 11th-century Paris, where only she can save a newborn.
Hope, the granddaughter of Blue Thread’s (2012) suffragist heroine, is a lovely singer but has trouble speaking out. She’s shy, for one thing, and ashamed of her stutter. She’s overwhelmed by her pushy older siblings. And finally, she has facial scarring—and occasional acid flashbacks—from injuries sustained when she accidentally downed LSD disguised as candy. At first, she takes it for a flashback when she’s visited by Serakh, a time traveler from biblical times, but Serakh is very real and needs her help. In the year 1099, young Dolcette has just given birth, and her husband, Avram, is convinced a vision has ordered him to kill the child; Serakh is certain Hope will be the child’s salvation. Hope wonders if his visions might come from a similar source as her own flashbacks. Meanwhile, in the modern world, Hope’s self-absorbed and strong-willed siblings threaten to drag her into more trouble than she can handle. As Hope pops between Hanukkahs nearly 900 years apart, she needs to solve her own family crises while navigating modern radical politics and saving a child’s life. A character in the 20th century is rightly condemned (by Hope and the novel) for thinking one can solve other people’s problems by slipping them hallucinogens; unfortunately Hope’s solution to Avram’s problem rests on that very act.
Tender and thought-provoking but wobbling on a shaky moral compass . (Historical fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-932010-65-7
Page Count: 276
Publisher: Ooligan Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Tragedy and hope collide in this promising middle-grade debut.
Japanese native Yuriko Ishikawa lives in Hiroshima with Papa, Aunt Kimiko, and annoying cousin Genji during the turmoil of World War II in Burkinshaw’s historical novel.
War seeps its way into every aspect of Yuriko’s life. Constant air-raid sirens and drills interrupt her daydreams, and the drone of “B-sans” (American B-29s) flying overhead fills her ears. She’s clumsy with exercises using bamboo spears as weapons, and when she and her best friend, Machiko, play jazz on the record player, they must do it in secret because all things American are banned. At home, a double wedding is planned, and new family members—Papa’s second wife, Sumiyo-san, and Aunt Kimiko’s second husband, Akira-san—move in. Will she ever have time alone with Papa again? Despite the necessity of participating in the war effort, Yuriko and her family do their best with normal activities, such as celebrating Oshagatsu (New Year’s) and the Cherry Blossom Festival. When a shocking family secret is revealed, Yuriko is shattered, but nothing can prepare her or her community for the unthinkable devastation about to hit their city. Chapter epigraphs of radio-show transcripts, newspaper headlines, and propaganda posters set the chilling tone. Told with reverence and authenticity, Yuriko’s journey is inspired by the author’s mother’s real-life experiences growing up in Hiroshima and surviving that tragic day on Aug. 6, 1945.
Tragedy and hope collide in this promising middle-grade debut. (afterword, bibliography, glossary, statistics about Hiroshima) (Historical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63450-693-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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