THE DOG IN THE WOOD

Name: THE DOG IN THE WOOD
Author: Monika Schröder
ISBN: 978-1-59078-701-4

by Monika Schröder ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2009

While a wealth of children’s books set during World War II focus on the Holocaust, Schröder brings some of Germany’s other young victims to light in her exceptional debut novel. Still coping with his soldier father’s death, ten-year-old Fritz keeps hearing that the “worst is over” and that peace is in sight. But when his Nazi sympathizer grandparents commit suicide before the Communist Russians invade his town, Russian military leaders set up office in his house, vindictive neighbors eject Fritz’s family from their beloved farm and his mother is falsely accused of a crime, the aspiring farmer can’t help but wonder when the worst will really end. Pocketed amid the death and destruction, a few caring individuals—from the family’s Polish farmhand who shows Fritz how to carve wood to smiling Russian soldiers who give him his first chocolate bar—help the boy discover the courage, hope and friendship needed to survive. Based on the author’s grandfather’s experiences, this poignant look at the effects of war and propaganda, especially on children, resonates with candor and eloquence. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59078-701-4

Page Count: 164

Publisher: Front Street/Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2009

Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

Did you like this book?

No Comments Yet

- BOOK REVIEW
BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD
by Monika Schröder

- BOOK REVIEW
MY BROTHER'S SHADOW
by Monika Schröder

- BOOK REVIEW
SARASWATI'S WAY
by Monika Schröder

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.

Our Verdict

GET IT

Google Rating

Kirkus Reviews'
Best Books Of 2017

New York Times Bestseller

Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

bookshelf

bookshelf

REFUGEE

by Alan Gratz ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2017

In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.

Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)