Young Iraqi cousins face their religious differences in war-torn Baghdad.
Shiite Nouri is devastated when a Sunni martyr kills his uncle. Hakim’s death is the first personal tragedy the boy has suffered since the Americans came to Iraq. He begins to take out his anger on his half-Sunni cousin, Talib. Although the two boys have always been close, Nouri and his mother soon begin ostracizing Talib and his Sunni mother, Fatima. Talib is also isolated from his friends at school, where his cousin is intent on highlighting his cousin’s Sunni heritage. After the Sunni bombing of a Shiite mosque, Talib is banned from his school altogether. Nouri’s final destructive (and anonymous) action is enough to convince Talib’s family to move to the market where Talib’s bookseller father plies his trade—and which is bombed, causing the devout Talib’s faith to wobble, with potentially catastrophic consequences. As with many of Marsden’s works, the ending is tidy and hopeful, while some of the child characters (particularly Talib) seem wise beyond their years. Timely though this effort is, the differences between the two factions of Islam may prove too subtle for many readers.
A decently executed exploration of the American presence in Iraq and the tensions between Shiites and Sunnis. (author’s notes, glossary) (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7383-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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A beautiful, evocative sophomore effort from Newbery honoree Wolk (Wolf Hollow, 2016).
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This book will make people want to run away to the Elizabeth Islands.
It’s the 1920s. Crow and her adoptive father, Osh, live in a tiny house on a tiny island off Cape Cod, but her descriptions make it seem strange and mysterious. The cottage is “built from bits of lost ships,” and it’s full of found treasures: “a pair of sun-white whale ribs arched over our doorway, a tarnished ship’s bell hanging from their pinnacle.” Every chapter in the book has a new mystery to be solved: why was Crow sent away in an old boat when she was a baby? Why is a fire burning on an abandoned island? Did Capt. Kidd really hide treasure nearby? But some readers will love Wolk’s use of language even more than the puzzles. Crow says her skin is “the same color Osh [makes] by mixing purple and yellow, blue and orange, red and green.” (The race of the characters isn’t always identified, but Osh says, “I came a long, long way to be here,” and his native language and accent make him sound “different from everyone else.”) The pacing of the book isn’t always as suspenseful as it should be. There are a few lulls, which the author tries to fill with heavy foreshadowing. But the mysteries—and the words that describe them—are compelling enough to send readers to the islands for years to come.
A beautiful, evocative sophomore effort from Newbery honoree Wolk (Wolf Hollow, 2016). (Historical fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-99485-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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A Great Migration novella with a vivid, believable protagonist.
When Langston’s mother dies in 1946, his father feels that Alabama has nothing left for him and moves himself and Langston to Chicago, where Negroes could make a living wage and avoid the severe discrimination so prevalent in the South. A sensitive boy who loved his mother deeply, Langston has spent so little time with his father that he doesn’t really know him. When he becomes the target of schoolyard bullies who call him “country boy,” his loneliness sends him to the George Cleveland Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library, where he learns that African-Americans are welcome, which is different from Alabama. A kind librarian helps him find books—including poetry by Langston Hughes, for whom she assumes he has been named. From snooping into letters his dad has saved, he realizes that his mother loved the poetry of Langston Hughes, which inspires him to read everything Hughes has written. Cline-Ransome creates a poignant, bittersweet story of a young black boy who comes to accept his new home while gaining newfound knowledge of the African-American literary tradition. Langston’s heartfelt, present-tense narration, which assumes a black default, gathers readers so close they’ll be sad to see his story conclude.
A fascinating work of historical fiction that showcases a well-developed, likable protagonist and presents Cline-Ransome at her best. (Historical fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3960-7
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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