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THE BRUSHMAKER'S DAUGHTER

Name: THE BRUSHMAKER'S DAUGHTER
Author: Kathy Kacer
ISBN: 978-1-77260-138-1

by Kathy Kacer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2020

The unimaginable is made alive, heart-wrenching, and reachable for modern young readers.

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It is Berlin in 1941, and the Nazis have further escalated their search for Jews to deport to the concentration camps.

Lillian Frey and her father, who is blind, run through the night to a promised safe place at Otto Weidt’s factory, which is contracted to supply brushes to the army. His employees are blind Jews. Weidt is not Jewish, but he too is blind and at risk of deportation or murder by the Nazis for this disability. The factory contains a secret room where the workers, who have developed close friendships, can hide in an emergency. Weidt arranges for safe housing, where Lillian and her father are fed and well cared for by their kind landlady. But their safety remains precarious at best, for the Gestapo is always watching. When the workers are brought to the trains for deportation, all seems lost. Weidt uses every possible means to rescue them, threatening to report the Gestapo agents for endangering the army and providing bribes to secure their release. Kacer creates the fictional Freys and has12-year-old Lillian narrate the events in a voice that is true, strong, and wise beyond her years. In a detailed afterword the author presents the biographies, backgrounds, and outcomes of Weidt and several of the real workers. Otto Weidt’s compassion, strength, and bravery have led to his recognition as Righteous Among Nations at Yad Vashem, and with this novel, Kacer brings him to life for children.

The unimaginable is made alive, heart-wrenching, and reachable for modern young readers. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-77260-138-1

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Second Story Press

Review Posted Online: July 2, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
HIDDEN ON THE HIGH WIRE
by Kathy Kacer

- BOOK REVIEW
UNDER THE IRON BRIDGE
by Kathy Kacer

- BOOK REVIEW
CALL ACROSS THE SEA
by Kathy Kacer

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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)