An affecting story of faith, family and the resilience of the human spirit.
In Knezevic’s moving work of historical fiction, a young girl’s dream is threatened by tumultuous current events.
Desa Jovanoic is a Serbian girl with big dreams. Her childhood in Belgrade comes to an abrupt end when bombs start to fall in the summer of 1914. World War I ushers in an era of terror and violence as Desa and her family struggle through the war and ensuing years of economic hardship. However, Desa is a smart, ambitious student who earns a scholarship to France to study medicine and pursue her calling as a doctor. Leaving behind her tightknit family, she settles into her new home abroad, devoting all of her time to her studies. Despite her focus, Desa manages to fall in love with Danilo, a handsome young Serbian man who survived the war and is equally devoted to the practice of law. The two young lovers ultimately wed and move back to Belgrade, where Desa practices medicine and struggles to balance her personal and professional lives. The couple’s years of peace and relative prosperity in Belgrade are brought to an end by World War II, and Desa and her family once again face an uncertain future with the arrival of the communist era. In this ambitious novel, Knezevic fleshes out the often confusing political, religious and economic history of the Balkans while detailing Desa’s journey from child to wife, mother and doctor. The far-flung narrative travels across Europe, following Desa from war-torn Belgrade to the sheltering arms of a comparatively peaceful, prosperous France. Knezevic’s characters are full of life, and the pages of her novel brim with crisp dialogue that conveys the deep emotional burdens of a family struggling to survive. Details such as fashion and food bring the past to life, and Knezevic spends time describing both the beauty and destruction of Desa’s surroundings. Her descriptions of cafe lattes and flaky croissants might leave readers hungering for a trip to Paris, while the chaos that springs from the bombings of Belgrade paint an honest portrait of the horrors of war.
An affecting story of faith, family and the resilience of the human spirit.Pub Date: April 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1479254521
Page Count: 628
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
