by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021
Gripping, harsh, and superbly written.
Two sisters try to make their way back to an Allied zone after World War II.
Told in alternating chapters narrated in the first person by Ukrainian sisters Krystia, 16, and Maria, 14, this gripping novel tells a lesser-known story of the war’s horror. It is June 1945, and Germany has surrendered: The war on the Western Front has ended. Krystia and Maria travel on foot to an American refugee camp in occupied Germany, hoping to eventually reach their aunt and uncle in Toronto. But just after they arrive to what they think is safety following, in Maria’s case, forced labor on a German farm, and, in Krystia’s case, hiding Jews and watching their mother get hanged for being part of the resistance, they are abducted by Soviet soldiers and accused of being Nazi collaborators. Taken to an interrogation house in the Soviet-controlled zone of occupied Germany, they are tortured but refuse to sign a false confession. The depictions of starvation, torture, and executions are drawn from actual accounts of prisoners who lived to talk about what happened in Soviet interrogation houses. Although some scenes can be difficult to read, this is ultimately a story of the strength of the human spirit. Krystia and Maria are survivors, and they never give up, drawing strength from remembering their parents’ belief in them as they struggle to stay alive.
Gripping, harsh, and superbly written. (author's note, map) (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-75429-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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by Daniel Aleman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 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
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by Elizabeth Acevedo ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2020
A standing ovation.
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finalist
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Tackles family secrets, toxic masculinity, and socio-economic differences with incisive clarity and candor.
Camino Rios lives in the Dominican Republic and yearns to go to Columbia University in New York City, where her father works most of the year. Yahaira Rios, who lives in Morningside Heights, hasn’t spoken to her dad since the previous summer, when she found out he has another wife in the Dominican Republic. Their lives collide when this man, their dad, dies in an airplane crash with hundreds of other passengers heading to the island. Each protagonist grieves the tragic death of their larger-than-life father and tries to unravel the tangled web of lies he kept secret for almost 20 years. The author pays reverent tribute to the lives lost in a similar crash in 2001. The half sisters are vastly different—Yahaira is dark skinned, a chess champion who has a girlfriend; Camino is lighter skinned, a talented swimmer who helps her curandera aunt deliver neighborhood babies. Despite their differences, they slowly forge a tenuous bond. The book is told in alternating chapters with headings counting how many days have passed since the fateful event. Acevedo balances the two perspectives with ease, contrasting the girls’ environments and upbringings. Camino’s verses read like poetic prose, flowing and straightforward. Yahaira’s sections have more breaks and urgent, staccato beats. Every line is laced with betrayal and longing as the teens struggle with loving someone despite his imperfections.
A standing ovation. (Verse novel. 14-18)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-288276-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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by Elizabeth Acevedo ; illustrated by Andrea Pippins
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by Mahogany L. Browne & Elizabeth Acevedo & Olivia Gatwood ; illustrated by Theodore Taylor III
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