A one-sided account.
From Puritan to Mohawk.
Eunice Williams, a young white Puritan girl, lives with her family in Deerfield, Massachusetts. During the winter of 1704, the town is attacked in the middle of the night by French soldiers and Mohawk warriors who kill the Williams’ black servant (this atypical act is unexplained) and Eunice’s newborn baby sister. The rest of the family is captured and taken from Deerfield. As they travel, Eunice is separated from them, eventually to be taken to live in the Mohawk village of Kahnawàke in Canada. There, Eunice learns the language and lives among them as one of their own. Though her father makes many requests for her return, Eunice refuses and lives the rest of her life with the Mohawks. The author notes that this is his fictionalized account of Eunice’s story and her time with the Mohawks, so the Mohawk way of life is seen through the eyes of an outsider, apparent in such details as when the author refers to Mohawk traditional clothing as “costumes.” In this light, Demos’ statement that “All history is, in one way or another, the product of our imagination,” comes across as justification to support a narrative of Mohawk culture sourced primarily from white records and histories, despite the participation of a Mohawk educator in the preparation of the book, as noted in the acknowledgements. Indeed, Demos' practice of sourcing his own book for adults in his notes adds another filter between readers and the Mohawks.
A one-sided account. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2604-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A poignant, beautiful story of family, endurance, and appreciation.
A young Mexican immigrant tells the story of his family and the lives of other migrant farm workers in this graphic novel adaptation of a classic 1997 memoir that won multiple awards.
Panchito, whose family left the Guadalajara area and crossed la frontera in the late 1940s, is growing up with his parents and five siblings. As the seasons pass, they move around California—Selma, Visalia, Bakersfield, Corcoran, and Santa Maria, among other places—finding work picking different crops. Panchito’s story unfolds in chronologically arranged, self-contained short stories, and readers follow the family through their circuit, from picking cotton and strawberries to topping carrots and thinning lettuce. They experience significant sorrows, such as when baby Torito ends up near death due to a lack of health care. The narrative doesn’t dwell on these moments, instead sharing the truth of hardship: that even where there’s sadness, there’s also joy to be found. Panchito’s time with older brother Roberto, the advice he receives from his mamá, and little moments with his friends allow readers to experience life’s simple pleasures alongside the family’s struggles. The exquisite illustrations are warm and weathered, perfectly complementing the emotional storytelling and evoking the mid-20th-century setting. Each person introduced serves a purpose, adding greater insights into Panchito’s life, and carefully relayed sensory details and seamlessly integrated Spanish words pull readers into the setting. The touching author’s note helps frame the memoir and its significance.
A poignant, beautiful story of family, endurance, and appreciation. (glossary) (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780358348214
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism.
Recounting his childhood experiences in sixth grade, Ogle’s memoir chronicles the punishing consequences of poverty and violence on himself and his family.
The start of middle school brings about unwanted changes in young Rex’s life. His old friendships devolve as his school friends join the football team and slowly edge him out. His new English teacher discriminates against him due to his dark skin (Rex is biracial, with a white absentee dad and a Mexican mom) and secondhand clothes, both too large and too small. Seemingly worse, his mom enrolls him in the school’s free-lunch program, much to his embarrassment. “Now everyone knows I’m nothing but trailer trash.” His painful home life proffers little sanctuary thanks to his mom, who swings from occasional caregiver to violent tyrant at the slightest provocation, and his white stepdad, an abusive racist whose aggression outrivals that of Rex’s mom. Balancing the persistent flashes of brutality, Ogle magnificently includes sprouts of hope, whether it’s the beginnings of a friendship with a “weird” schoolmate, joyful moments with his younger brother, or lessons of perseverance from Abuela. These slivers of relative levity counteract the toxic relationship between young Rex, a boy prone to heated outbursts and suppressed feelings, and his mother, a fully three-dimensional character who’s viciously thrashing against the burden of poverty. It’s a fine balance carried by the author’s outstanding, gracious writing and a clear eye for the penetrating truth.
A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism. (author’s note, author Q&A, discussion guide, writing guide, resources) (Memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-324-00360-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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