A timely, necessary read.
Co-authors Mills and Alva demystify la frontera in this autobiographical tale based on Alva’s childhood journey with his father from Mexico to Texas.
To provide for his growing family, Alfredo’s father decides to journey northward to “find a new home.” Alfredo joins his papá on this arduous voyage, knowing he’ll miss his family and his small village. After saying goodbye to his home and loved ones, Alfredo sets off in the early morning light alongside his father. Led to the Rio Grande by el coyote, Papa and Alfredo cross the river with the help of an old inner tube. When el coyote abandons Alfredo and his father, the pair must escape further into the harsh Texan landscape, away from la frontera. Presented in both Spanish and English, the retrospective narrative overflows with grueling, poignant details about the journey Alfredo and his father undertook. Yet Navarro’s mixed-media artwork succeeds in emphasizing the more-hopeful aspects of Alva’s story, namely love and strength in a familial context. Vivid shifts in color, light, and shadows from scene to scene gently pull readers along, complemented by powerful facial expressions during key moments. After almost a week of struggles, Alfredo and his father arrive at “the Embassy,” a makeshift camp behind a factory. As father and son adjust to their new life in the U.S., they never forget about those left behind.
A timely, necessary read. (appendix) (Picture book. 8-11)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78285-388-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Accessible, vital, and timely.
The memoir of Holocaust survivor Gruener, who spent much of the war in hiding and has gone on to ensure it will not be forgotten.
In the 1930s, in what was then Lvov, Poland, Luncia Gamzer is born to Jewish parents. Luncia, a brown-haired, light-skinned girl, is a happy child, but when she’s 5, Germany’s invasion of Poland destroys her world. Could young Luncia have foreseen the eventual extermination of most of Lvov’s 200,000 Jews? As Gruener writes, “you can see the truth in hindsight but not as it’s happening in the moment.” Luncia’s awful wartime experiences seem almost benign compared to the horrific experiences of Jack Gruener, the boy who’d one day become her husband, which are lightly fictionalized in Prisoner B-3087 (2013), co-authored by both Grueners and Alan Gratz, who contributes the foreword to this title. She starves in a ghetto, she’s helpless while her extended family members are murdered, she starves again while hidden by family friends. When the Soviets liberate Lvov, she becomes a displaced person, trying to be normal after a childhood hiding, silent, in the dark. It doesn’t take Luncia long to relearn how to walk and talk, but that’s the easy part. This blunt, important history is less about the Holocaust itself and more about its aftermath for a traumatized refugee girl becoming a young woman in America after a multiyear wait for visas. She changes her name to Ruth, but becoming an American teenager who understands “fun” is more complicated than a name change.
Accessible, vital, and timely. (map, photographs) (Memoir. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-62745-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A high-interest, empowering read.
An impressive group of girls lead with hope and confidence.
Building on the premise of empowering girls, this title showcases 30 true stories from the U.S. and all over the world of young people who are striving toward their goals. The title opens with a foreword by Olympic gold medal winner Laurie Hernandez; an introduction that defines confidence and explains why it matters; and a glossary of terms used in the book. The varied format, which includes Q&A’s and photos, adds appeal as readers learn about each girl’s story. The featured girls are diverse in ethnicity, national origin, ability, socio-economic status, and religious beliefs as well as in their accomplishments. One example is Autumn Peltier, a member of the Eagle Clan Anishinaabekwe and Wikwemikong First Nation in Ontario. She is a water activist, protesting the pollution of the Great Lakes. Yekaba Abimbola of Ethiopia advocated for herself and sought community support after discovering at age 12 that she was betrothed to a 20-year-old. Passionate about her education, she persuaded her father to cancel the engagement and support her dreams. Handling many subjects, from gender inequality in Nepal to disability access in sports, the stories offer efficient synopses of each girl’s journey. Each also emphasizes that success is not linear and that failure is a normal part of the process. The last chapter is blank, inviting readers to write their own stories.
A high-interest, empowering read. (sources & references, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-295411-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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