While middle-graders seeking pleasure reading will likely find the tale dull, extra materials—including a map, a glossary,...
Mihaela must adapt to her new life on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula after emigrating from Croatia in the late 19th century.
Although Mihaela’s father left his farm in Croatia for the copper mines of Michigan to help support his family in the midst of a drought, his worsening eyesight makes it difficult to work. When American doctors can’t help, he asks his wife—an experienced healer—to join him, along with their three children. Based on author Carney-Coston’s great-grandparents’ immigration story, the tale follows the 11-year-old white girl as she adjusts to her new life: helping her mother run a boardinghouse for other copper miners; longing for her cousin, Katarina; and familiarizing herself with Michigan herbs to help her father see again. It certainly captures a moment in time, but the overall tone feels dated, and the story lacks drama; even when Mihaela’s brothers knock over a beehive and each receives manifold stings, the event happens offstage, and they are quickly healed before any real danger can set in. The ending also feels too neat, with Mihaela turning 12 and receiving a china doll for her birthday, along with the news that her entire family is moving to Michigan and that she can start going to school.
While middle-graders seeking pleasure reading will likely find the tale dull, extra materials—including a map, a glossary, historical images, and Carney-Coston’s own family recipes—add richness to this short novel, making it a good resource for classroom units on immigration. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8143-4363-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Wayne State Univ. Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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