by Chantele Sedgwick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2017
Best for fans of three-hanky weepers.
Emmy grapples with the death of her first love, a potential new boyfriend, and her mom’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s.
This companion to Love, Lucas (2015) follows Emmy, Lucas’ childhood friend and secret love. Though they never actually dated, the pair confessed their love a week before Lucas died. Unsurprisingly, a mere four weeks later, Emmy is unwilling to give handsome, hazel-eyed Cole a chance at romance. Emmy spends lots of time rebuffing Cole’s attempts at friendship and romance, especially when she’s further devastated by her mother’s diagnosis. Mountain biking becomes her outlet, and conveniently, Cole—a sponsored rider himself—uses this shared interest to encourage Emmy to become more emotionally available. Also helping push romance is Emmy’s best friend, Kelsie, who reminds Emmy, “It’s okay to move on. He’d [Lucas] want that.” It may be sage advice, but considering Lucas died only four weeks earlier, expecting her to be ready for new love feels awfully premature. But what is youth if not resilient? A few weeks later Cole has managed to gently persuade Emmy to leave behind her fear of loss, and the two are happily dating. And then catastrophe strikes, ramping the melodrama level up even further. Luckily for Emmy (and readers), a quick epilogue provides easy resolutions. The cast appears to be a largely white one.
Best for fans of three-hanky weepers. (Romance. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5107-0506-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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More In The Series
by Kate Albus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 2, 2021
A wartime drama with enough depth and psychological complexity to satisfy budding bookworms.
Three plucky orphan siblings are in search of a mother in wartime England.
When their grandmother dies, 12-year-old William, 11-year-old Edmund, and 9-year-old Anna are left in London in the care of an elderly housekeeper. As part of the World War II evacuation of children to safety, they are relocated to the countryside, something the family solicitor hopes may lead to finding adoptive parents. However, they are billeted with the Forresters, an unpleasant family reminiscent of the Dursleys. Bullying by their hosts’ two sons, who despise them; the ever present fear of German attack; and the dread of homelessness test their mettle to the limit. The orphans long to find a home of their own, and good boy William is stressed by his responsibility as head of the small family. Edmund’s desire for revenge against the Forresters and a prank involving a snake get them evicted from their billet, and they end up in a much worse situation. They find sanctuary in the village library and a savior in the librarian, who is married to a German and therefore ostracized by the locals. Mrs. Müller provides them with moral support, a listening ear, and true appreciation and love. The classic books she chooses for them—The Wind in the Willows and Anne of Green Gables, among others—may generate ideas for further reading. All characters are White.
A wartime drama with enough depth and psychological complexity to satisfy budding bookworms. (reading list) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4705-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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BOOK REVIEW
by Kate Albus
by R.J. Palacio ; illustrated by R.J. Palacio with K Czap ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2019
A must-read graphic novel that is both heart-rending and beautifully hopeful.
A grandmother shares her story of survival as a Jew in France during World War II.
As part of a homework assignment, Julian (Auggie’s chief tormentor in Wonder, 2012) video chats with Grandmère, who finally relates her wartime story. Born Sara Blum to a comfortable French Jewish family, she is indulged by her parents, who remain in Vichy France after 1940. Then, in 1943, after the German occupation, soldiers come to Sara’s school to arrest her and the other Jewish students. Sara hides and is soon spirited away by “Tourteau,” a student that she and the others had teased because of his crablike, crutch-assisted walk after being stricken by polio. Nonetheless, Tourteau, whose real name is Julien, and his parents shelter Sara in their barn loft for the duration of the war, often at great peril but always with care and love. Palacio begins each part of her story with quotations: from Muriel Rukeyser’s poetry, Anne Frank, and George Santayana. Her digital drawings, inked by Czap, highlight facial close-ups that brilliantly depict emotions. The narrative thread, inspired by Palacio’s mother-in-law, is spellbinding. In the final pages, the titular bird, seen in previous illustrations, soars skyward and connects readers to today’s immigration tragedies. Extensive backmatter, including an afterword by Ruth Franklin, provides superb resources. Although the book is being marketed as middle-grade, the complexities of the Holocaust in Vichy France, the growing relationship between Sara and Julien, Julien’s fate, and the mutual mistrust among neighbors will be most readily appreciated by Wonder’s older graduates.
A must-read graphic novel that is both heart-rending and beautifully hopeful. (author’s note, glossary, suggested reading list, organizations and resources, bibliography, photographs) (Graphic historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-64553-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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More by R.J. Palacio
BOOK REVIEW
by R.J. Palacio
BOOK REVIEW
by R.J. Palacio ; illustrated by R.J. Palacio
BOOK REVIEW
by R.J. Palacio
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Film Version of White Bird Is Now in Development
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