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ALL HE KNEW

Name: ALL HE KNEW
Author: Helen Frost
ISBN: 978-0-374-31299-2

by Helen Frost ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 11, 2020

An engaging, emotional read that tells an important story—with caveats.

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A young deaf boy faces the horror of institutionalization in the late 1930s and ’40s. This verse novel tells the story of Henry, who is born hearing and becomes deaf due to a fever at age 4. The school for the deaf erroneously labels him “unteachable,” and he is sent to an institution for the “feebleminded,” where the children face abuse and neglect. Henry’s story merges with that of Victor, a conscientious objector who works at the institution. Frost depicts one grim reality of deaf/Deaf life in mid-20th-century America in a way that is approachable for readers as she explores the rarely discussed story of conscientious objectors in World War II. The story is told in discrete poems, creating an episodic narrative that highlights poignant moments and delves into characters’ thoughts. All the characters are presumed white. However artful, the book is not without flaws. Characters repeatedly suggest that Henry’s institutionalization is particularly unjust because he is “smart,” an implicit comment on intellectual disabilities that is not adequately explored. The author’s note detracts from the story itself, raising questions that wouldn’t need to be asked otherwise, such as why the author gave Henry the ability to speak when the man he is based on could not. A sequence of poems by the author’s mother-in-law that inspired the novel are included and contain an outdated portrayal of disability that is presented without context or commentary for readers. An engaging, emotional read that tells an important story—with caveats. (notes on form and characters, acknowledgements) (Verse historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-374-31299-2

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MIGHTY POLLINATORS
by Helen Frost ; photographed by Rick Lieder

- BOOK REVIEW
WAIT—AND SEE
by Helen Frost ; illustrated by Rick Lieder

- BOOK REVIEW
BLUE DAISY
by Helen Frost ; illustrated by Rob Shepperson

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ON THE HORIZON

by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Kenard Pak ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020

A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history.

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In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.

When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.

A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)

Pub Date: April 7, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-358-12940-0

Page Count: 80

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S HISTORY

- BOOK REVIEW
TREE. TABLE. BOOK.
by Lois Lowry

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WINDEBY PUZZLE
by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Jonathan Stroh

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WILLOUGHBYS RETURN
by Lois Lowry

- PROFILES
Lois Lowry Captures a WWII Childhood

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)