Powerful, heroic, and inspiring.
A remarkable creative nonfiction story of courage and survival that satisfyingly comes together like a jigsaw puzzle.
The book opens near the Carpathian Mountains in 1943 with a vignette from the life of Eliezer “Leizer” Buchwald, a young Jewish teenage boy, as Nazis threaten the family of a farmer who’s suspected of hiding Jews. Next comes a timeline of the history of Ukraine from 1915 to the present, followed by a chapter set in 2013 following then-16-year-old co-author Mariichyn, who was living in post-Soviet Ukraine with her parents and grandmother. She enjoyed stories and dreamed of being a writer. When her father’s stroke and bullying at school sent her into a tailspin, her grandmother gave her a pile of old letters to read. The letters continue Leizer’s narrative, starting with his dramatic escape from the Nazis. Under Soviet rule, students learned little about the Holocaust, and Nataliia wasn’t aware of stories like his. She starts to realize that Leizer is somehow connected to her own family and begins researching—hoping she won’t discover that her beloved relatives collaborated with the Nazis. McClelland, known for collaborating with survivors of conflicts, worked with Mariichyn (now a refugee in Canada) and consulted members of Mariichyn’s and Buchwald’s families. The meticulous storytelling, occasionally supplemented with sections of straightforward historical content, unfurls slowly in mesmerizing detail before a fascinating conclusion. The afterword offers additional context and includes illuminating photos of the book’s subjects and Leizer’s correspondence.
Powerful, heroic, and inspiring. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9781662621086
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Astra Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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