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THE BOY FROM SEVILLE

Name: THE BOY FROM SEVILLE
Author: Dorit Orgad
ISBN: 978-1-58013-253-4

by Dorit Orgad & translated by Sondra Silverston ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2007

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It is 17th-century Spain, the time of the Inquisition, and 11-year-old Manuel Nuñez has just learned a shocking secret from his parents: They are Jews. Having fled Portugal, the family, nominally “New Christians,” live in terrible fear that their true religious convictions, practiced in tightly guarded secrecy, will be discovered. The novel, translated from the original Hebrew, does a good job of capturing the time and the dread, though a lot of explanation slows the pace. Jews caught practicing their faith were subject to severe punishment or death by fire. Complicating matters is Manuel’s growing bond with the mysterious girl next door; his Christian tutor’s almost-love affair with Manuel’s sister; and Manuel’s feeling compelled to join a local gang to hide his identity. The story moves along and ends happily with the Nuñez family escaping by sea to more tolerant Holland. Readers will feel the injustice of Manuel’s and the other Jews’ plight, but characterization isn’t skillfully handled—some actors in the drama seem mere types—and dialogue and Manuel’s first-person narration are clipped and often seem unrealistic. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-58013-253-4

Page Count: 200

Publisher: Kar-Ben

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGION

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THE ACROBAT AND THE ANGEL

by Mark Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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In this retelling of a medieval French tale, a starving young acrobat, PÇquelÇ, is allowed to join a Franciscan community only if he promises to give up performing. When he breaks his promise, in order to comfort a plague-stricken infant, a sculpted angel comes to life and bears him away. Although the illustrator frames most of his darkly elaborate illustrations within stone archways decorated with floral designs or grotesques, PÇquelÇ often flies beyond the visual borders, flinging out arms and legs in abandon. His joy is contagious; readers moved by the story’s Italian cousin, retold in Tomie dePaola’s Clown of God (1978), will also respond to this more formal, polished rendition. (Picture book/folklore. 7-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-399-22918-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

- BOOK REVIEW
GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
by Mark Shannon & illustrated by David Shannon

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BE BLEST

A CELEBRATION OF SEASONS

by Mary Beth Owens ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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This book of seasonal prayers, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of Brother Sun,” and also indebted to Gaelic scholar Alexander Carmichel’s work, can be summed up by a portion of the prayer for November: “Contained in every/season’s end:/the blessing to begin again.” Springtime’s “Sing praise” gives way to summer’s “Rejoice!” and then to harvest time’s “Give Thanks” before winter’s “Be Blest” appears in the encircled prayer that faces each month’s watercolor illustration. The realistic paintings reflect the annual cycle, becoming almost iconographic in the evidence in each of the gifts of the season. These are “God’s good gifts” that in January, for example, are the seeds shaken from dead plants and weeds and the leaf buds on barren branches. The puzzle of the cycle of life springing from death moves on many levels; also appearing in January are predator (fox) and prey (deer). The simple yet sturdy spirituality informing this book will assure its place in both individual and institutional collections that have room for religious titles. (Picture book. 6-8)