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UNDER THE BROKEN SKY

Name: UNDER THE BROKEN SKY
Author: Mariko Nagai
ISBN: 978-1-250-15921-2

by Mariko Nagai ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2019

Sheds light on a fascinating episode in history but sadly does not do justice to the nuances.

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Twelve-year-old Natsu lives with her father and 6-year-old sister, Asa, in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in northern China.

Kachan died while giving birth to Asa, so when Tochan is conscripted to support Japan’s failing war effort, Auntie, an older neighbor, moves in—but the summer of 1945 brings the Soviet invasion. The settlers set off on foot toward the city of Harbin. Facing harsh weather, angry Chinese villagers, bullets from Soviet planes, hunger, and exhaustion, many die along the way. Harbin is filled with desperate Japanese, and Natsu begs on the streets, dreaming of finding Tochan. Some parents kill their own children, believing that a more merciful fate; others sell them to Chinese or Russians, hoping they will at least be fed and cared for. Unfortunately, the characters and their relationships feel static and two-dimensional in Natsu’s free-verse narration, limiting the emotional impact. The historical note troublingly compares the plight of Japanese settlers who took over Chinese land and whose government inflicted appalling atrocities on the local population (glossed over in the book) to refugees such as those from Rwanda and Syria. Readers may struggle to make sense of a scene in which Natsu and Asa aggressively confront a hungry Chinese boy. The suffering of the Japanese settlers—duped and abandoned by their country—and the suffering of the Chinese they displaced are not fully contextualized.

Sheds light on a fascinating episode in history but sadly does not do justice to the nuances. (afterword) (Historical verse fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-250-15921-2

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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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)