Reductive morality and characterizations muffle the meaningful core of this post–World War II identity crisis. Thirteen-year-old Peter lives in Rolfen, Germany, happily playing soccer and helping his architect father repair St. Mary’s Church, which was bombed by the Allies during the war. It’s 1955, and Peter’s teacher struggles to make his students comprehend Germany’s wartime deeds. When Peter, snooping at home, finds some hidden photographs that match his old nightmares of a strange woman, seasoned readers will immediately guess that Peter’s adopted, and Jewish. Peter himself is slow to understand, his comprehension dawning in an illogical order. Sometimes Whelan’s first-person narration sounds genuinely like it comes from Peter, other times it sounds instructional. Lessons arrive via Whelan’s idealized portrayal of Herr Shafer, an unceasingly wise, ever-noble Jewish Holocaust survivor who harbors zero bitterness. The author does a good job examining Peter’s identity and establishing the beautiful symbolism of laying bricks to restore buildings, but she oversimplifies Peter’s mother and glosses over both Herr Shafer’s losses and Peter’s father’s architectural-but-military service for the Third Reich. (Historical fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-029596-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An exceptional addition to the resistance stories of enslaved people.
Two youngsters escaping slavery find refuge.
Twelve-year-old Homer and his little sister, Ada, become separated from their mother as they attempt to flee enslavement on the Southerland plantation. They are rescued by Suleman, who takes them deep into the Great Dismal Swamp, where they join Freewater, a community of people who successfully fled from slavery and children who were born there. They work together to remain free, support one another, and remember the history of their founding. Suleman is one of the men who patrols the swamp, watching for any who would seek to reenslave them. He and others raid neighboring plantations for supplies. Freeborn Sanzi, 12, is determined to be a hero like Suleman—even if it gets her into trouble—and when her efforts go badly wrong, it places their settlement in danger. Meanwhile, back at Southerland, Homer’s mother has been caught and severely whipped. This does not keep Homer’s friend Anna from plotting her own escape while Homer seeks a way to rescue his mother. Set in a fictional community but based on real stories of those who fled slavery and lived secretly in Southern swamps, this is detailed and well-researched historical fiction. The characters are varied, complex, and fully realized. Descriptions of the setting are so vivid that it becomes a key aspect of the narrative. The page-turning action will engage readers as the story reaches a satisfying conclusion.
An exceptional addition to the resistance stories of enslaved people. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-05661-8
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
A captivating novel about a boy whose story will leave readers wanting more.
Lymon, who has music in his bones, has too many strikes against him to make growing into young adulthood easy.
Readers met Lymon as an angry bully in Cline-Ransome’s Finding Langston (2018). At the outset of this companion, the African American boy lives in 1940s Mississippi with his loving, guitar-playing grandpops and ever disgruntled grandmother, called Ma. Lymon’s flighty teen mother, Daisy, abandoned him long ago when she moved to Chicago and started another family; Grady, Lymon’s father, is incarcerated at Parchman Farm. Like Langston’s, Lymon’s distinctive rural Southern voice narrates both painful and poignant moments in a matter-of-fact way that leaves readers wondering how he can bear so much without breaking. Though likable and worthy of compassion, Lymon seems to attract negativity. When Grandpops dies and Ma sickens from diabetes, the relatives can no longer afford Lymon’s upkeep. They send him to Chicago to live with Daisy, her two sons, and her husband, Robert, who beats Lymon regularly. When Lymon steals money from Robert, the police send him to a boys’ home—where, finally, he’s allowed to come into his own. Cline-Ransome’s masterful storytelling will keep readers enthralled while teaching them about historical racial biases in the penal system, the plight of children during the Great Migration, the discrimination faced by Northern Blacks, and more.
A captivating novel about a boy whose story will leave readers wanting more. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4442-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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