The Holocaust always makes for a moving read; this will succeed on that alone.
Sisterhood and survival in Poland during the Holocaust.
Polish Jews Anna and Lina find themselves swept into the Warsaw ghetto in 1940 when the Germans invade. In alternating first-person narration, readers get a glimpse into less-familiar Holocaust experiences as 12-year-old Anna first smuggles food into the ghetto and then is herself smuggled to safety with kindly Christian farmers, while Lina, her older sister, becomes a forger and later endures Treblinka. Lina’s story horrifies in expected ways, with starvation, death, and a sadistic Nazi supervisor, but Anna also encounters depravity and bodily harm as well as romance and develops a love for medicine and science. Despite hardships, neither sister gives up; indeed, staying alive for Anna keeps Lina going. The opening, narrated by Anna’s adult self, lessens the suspense; readers know going into the novel that her survival is a given. Secondary characters show heroism in ways large and small; moments when Anna and Lina express sympathy for individual Nazis, thus humanizing those characters, may not be credible to readers. Both Anna and Lina become romantically involved with Christian men. Minor but pervasive inaccuracies will likely be ignored by many readers eager for a novel in this genre, and there are powerful moments here despite those issues. All characters are light-skinned. Hebrew and Yiddish terms are defined in the text.
The Holocaust always makes for a moving read; this will succeed on that alone. (historical note) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77260-207-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Second Story Press
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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