During an incredibly hot summer in Baltimore early in the 20th century, nine-year-old Anna—from Anna All Year Round (1999)—is invited by her aunt and uncle to spend a week on their farm. She is especially delighted by the idea of escaping the city because it will give her equal bragging rights with friends who are going to the mountains or the seaside. In addition, although there is a deep, loving relationship between Anna and her parents, it is apparent that she is uncomfortable with some of the restrictions placed on her feisty and adventurous nature. After all, girls are expected to wear dresses, never get dirty, and stay home until they marry. During the eventful week on the farm Anna is exposed to more freedom than she has ever known. A challenging friendship with her uncle's orphaned nephew involves her in the world of boys' play. She wears overalls, catches fireflies, wades in a stream, rides a horse, and gets very dirty, all without serious repercussions. Hahn uses the direct present tense, a usually difficult style, deftly and with grace. The reader is drawn into Anna's world as she experiences it, allowing both a glimpse of a bygone era and a point of comparison to modern life. De Groat's expressive pencil illustrations depict several of the key moments in the story just as one would imagine them. Anna is a character filled with life and energy whose further adventures would be most welcome. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: March 19, 2001
ISBN: 0064411001
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-06-028521-4 From Radin (All Joseph Wanted, 1991), a short, accessible novel that could serve as a introduction to the realities of the Holocaust. Sarah, a young Jewish girl, lives in eastern Poland, where the Russians have taken control of her town and imposed harsh restrictions. The family must celebrate Hanukkah in secret; Lili, a girl from western Poland whom the family shelters, is arrested. Eventually Lili is released, but when the Germans attack they force the family into a small ghetto. Jews are being murdered in the streets, and Sarah’s brother, David, knows that a family, the Bielskis, have escaped into the forest. Sarah’s mother, believing that life in the forest would be worse, refuses to leave the ghetto even after the family survives a selection by the Germans. When ordered onto a train that will take them to Treblinka, her father tells Sarah to leave; she must find the Bielskis in the forest in order to survive. The fact that this is a true story lends the narrative further immediacy and suspense. Compelling reading for the young. (b&w illustrations) (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: March 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028520-6
Page Count: 88
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
Basing the book on true incidents and real people of the Revolutionary War, Kirkpatrick (Trouble’s Daughter, 1998, etc.) recreates the actions of a Patriot spies begun by Robert Townsend and assisted by strong-willed, cool-headed Nancy Strong in the little town of Setauket, New York; Nancy used her clothesline and petticoats to signal the location, spotted by her son, of a whaleboat that would transport a vital letter about British battle plans directly to General George Washington. The complete spy ring route, which carried crucial information from British-occupied New York City to Patriot-held Connecticut, is depicted in a colorful map at the conclusion of the book; the detailed historical notes that follow will intrigue those interested in learning about the strong men and women who were instrumental in changing the nation’s history. Himler’s splendid watercolor paintings illustrate the danger involved in trying to foil the Loyalists and the daily threat of exposure that was faced by the Setauket spies. (map, sources) (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1416-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
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