A quietly triumphant tale with a respectful, matter-of-fact regard for the dead.
Alberto, a carpenter who’s buried his entire family, finds rejuvenation in protecting a motherless boy from his abusive father.
Perched above the sea, Allora is beloved by artists and renowned for its peculiar flying fish. Thirty years before, a plague swept the town, sparing few. Instead of furniture, Alberto began crafting coffins, including those for his own wife and children. Now, after burying the reclusive Miss Bonito, Alberto’s food begins going missing. He catches the thief—young Tito Bonito, along with his colorful pet bird, Fia. As boy and bird grow to trust kindly Alberto, Tito becomes his apprentice. Nursing Tito back from a dire illness, Alberto settles him into the children’s room, reading him fantastical tales from The Story of Isola. Through Tito’s perspective, readers learn of the dangerous father that he and Mum fled south to escape. Dreaded Mr. Bonito arrives, aligning with the mayor, to find Tito, leading Alberto, Tito, and magical Fia to enact a daring escape by sea. Woods’ charming narrative evokes a folkloric Mediterranean landscape of jewel-hued dwellings, sparkling water, and colorful, Italian-esque characters (who are default white). Two gossipy sisters wreak havoc, and the vainglorious mayor, as wide as he’s tall, commissions the grandiose casket that serves as the trio’s getaway craft. Isola, the treasure-laden land of their read-aloud, beckons them.
A quietly triumphant tale with a respectful, matter-of-fact regard for the dead. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-51521-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.
Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 1989
ISBN: 0547577095
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989
Certain to steal hearts.
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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