An important educational (rather than enthralling) take on this little-known historical tragedy.
In 1492, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain sends 12-year-old Joseph and his young sister to slavery on a sugar plantation.
Any Jews who don’t convert must leave their homes in Spain, but neighboring countries have no desire to take in these unwanted refugees. When Joseph and his family, after a grueling walk on which many of their thousands of fellow Jews die, reach the border with Portugal, they’re told that they must pay everything they have or they’ll become slaves to the king. Joseph’s parents pay the tax, but to no avail. In a harrowing scene, these Jewish refugee children are ripped from their parents’ arms and sent into slavery. Many of the children die on the brutal ocean journey to São Tomé, off the coast of central Africa. On São Tomé, the children—forcibly converted to Christianity—prepare the land for sugar farming along with white Portuguese convicts and, eventually, African slaves. Joseph, who can read and write and figure, has some privileges, though he still labors in the fields. When he befriends an Igbo slave known as Tomás, Tomás makes it clear that white-skinned, literate Joseph’s slavery is qualitatively different from his own. While the scenario and constant peril should draw readers in, Joseph’s first-person narration is sadly flat; a topic this vital deserves a more compelling story.
An important educational (rather than enthralling) take on this little-known historical tragedy. (map, historical note, endnotes, author’s note, glossary, further reading) (Historical fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77260-069-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Second Story Press
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff
A modern Sherlock Holmes retelling brings an 11-year-old black John Watson into the sphere of know-it-all 9-year-old white detective Shelby Holmes.
John's an Army brat who's lived in four states already. Now, with his parents' divorce still fresh, the boy who's lived only on military bases must explore the wilds of Harlem. His new life in 221A Baker St. begins inauspiciously, as before he's even finished moving in, his frizzy-haired neighbor blows something up: "BOOM!" But John's great at making friends, and Shelby certainly seems like an interesting kid to know. Oddly loquacious, brusque, and extremely observant, Shelby's locally famous for solving mysteries. John’s swept up in her detecting when a wealthy, brown-skinned classmate enlists their help in the mysterious disappearance of her beloved show dog, Daisy. Whatever could have happened to the prizewinning Cavalier King Charles spaniel? Has she been swiped by a jealous competitor? Has Daisy’s trainer—mysteriously come into enough money to take a secret weekend in Cozumel—been placing bets against his own dog? Brisk pacing, likable characters, a few silly Holmes jokes ("I'm Petunia Cumberbatch," says Shelby while undercover), and a diverse neighborhood, carefully and realistically described by John, are ingredients for success.
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff . (Mystery. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68119-051-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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