Based on Jacobs's autobiography and presented as letters she might have written from 1825, at age 12, until she escaped north in 1842, a moving evocation of the tragedies inflicted by slavery. Harriet pours out her story as letters to dear ones she has lost. She writes to her dead mother about the family's division after one mistress dies, failing to honor her promise to set Harriet free; to her father when she's denied permission to attend his burial; to the man she loves after he goes north, telling him of her decision to escape the attentions of her master by accepting those of a kinder white man who, though he later succeeded in freeing their children and sending them north, failed to ensure the education he promised them. Meanwhile, Harriet—setting a false trail—hid during the years her children grew from toddlers to young adults, in a tiny space in her grandmother's cabin, as she tells an uncle who's also escaped. The letters here end with her own journey north; a final chapter summarizes the sorrows of the rest of her long life, as well as her many achievements—notably writing and publishing, in 1861, a seminal book on the sexual abuse of slaves. As explained in an excellent note, even the misspellings here are authentic, modeled on real letters, including some from Harriet's brother. The style Lyons creates for Harriet—a luminous character, gentle and resolute—is graceful and direct. A compelling story, then, true in outline and in spirit. Bibliography; family tree; glossary. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-684-19446-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Beautiful and important.
When Death tells a story, you pay attention.
Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor.
Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)Pub Date: March 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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