bookshelf

ISABEL'S WAR

Name: ISABEL'S WAR
Author: Lila Perl
ISBN: 978-1-939601-27-8

by Lila Perl ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 15, 2014

Published posthumously, an effective exploration of both character and times.

bookshelf

A young woman comes of age with World War II looming in the background.

It is summer, 1942, and World War II is less than a year old for the United States. Isabel Brandt, 12, and her parents are vacationing at a small, unstylish resort in the Catskills. As they arrive she is teetering on the edge of adolescence; while not selfish, she is self-absorbed. Also visiting at Moskin’s Shady Pines is Helga, a German refugee, the somewhat-older niece of Mrs. Brandt’s best friend. The beautiful, sophisticated older girl is a mystery Isabel is determined to solve, especially when circumstances force her to live with the Brandts. As Helga’s unhappy story unfolds, Isabel’s world widens, and she begins to appreciate others and take brave stands, even trying to bring German concentration camps to the attention of others. The evocation of wartime is real; this view is from someone who was there. Isabel’s experiences of school, friends, a boy, movies, crooners, rationing and her brother’s enlistment combine with what she learns about Helga’s life and tortured secret to summon the times and authentically evoke a girl becoming a person aware of others, thus adding value to her life and the lives of others.

Published posthumously, an effective exploration of both character and times. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-939601-27-8

Page Count: 227

Publisher: Lizzie Skurnick/Ig

Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
LILLI'S QUEST
by Lila Perl

- BOOK REVIEW
FOUR PERFECT PEBBLES
by Lila Perl & illustrated by Marion Blumenthal Lazan

- BOOK REVIEW
ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
by Lila Perl & illustrated by Donna Ruff

bookshelf

THE SCHOOL FOR THIEVES

From the School for Thieves series , Vol. 1

by Peter Burns ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2025

A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series.

bookshelf

An orphaned street urchin is recruited into an elite school for thieves.

In an alternate world where France is the dominant world power, 13-year-old Tom Morgan has had to scrimp, starve, and steal on the streets of London to survive. Born into a workhouse, he doesn’t know anything about his father, while his mother may have been from North Africa. One thing he does know is the sort of cruelty that awaits the poor who are sent to the workhouse, and he’s determined not to go back. But when their camp is raided and his friends are captured by workhouse agents, the only thing Tom can think of is how to get them out. Enter the Corsair, a cunning and mysterious man with a proposition: He wants to recruit Tom into Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts. From nabbing treasures to forging identity papers, Beaufort’s promises to teach Tom everything he needs to know to become a Shadow Thief and a member of the Shadow League, the secret global organization that helps keep the world’s political power in balance. But Beaufort’s has its own rules and secrets, and if Tom is to survive long enough to help his friends, he’ll need to figure them out quickly. Clever and gripping, this fast-paced boarding school story will appeal to fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society and Spy School series.

A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series. (Adventure. 10-14)