Kehret (Danger at the Fair, p. 226, etc.) provides pulse- pounding suspense from beginning to end of an action novel that few readers will be able to put down. While Jonathan and his family are camping on an uninhabited island, Jonathan's mother breaks her ankle. His father takes her to a mainland hospital, leaving behind Jonathan, his handicapped sister, Abby, and their dog. Soon afterward an earthquake strikes, destroying their camper and the bridge to the mainland. With no way of knowing if his parents are alive or able to send help, and as the water rises to cover the island, Jonathan must find a way to keep his sister and himself alive. Although he is brave and resourceful, the earthquake is only the beginning of the trials and terrors that rapidly mount beyond even an adult's ability to cope. Abby's whining is too grating for her to be likable, and Jonathan is almost incredibly empathetic, but the rapid rush of events will involve even less-practiced readers. (Fiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-525-65226-4
Page Count: 117
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995
Sensitive subject matter that could have benefited from a subtler, more sober touch.
A Jewish girl joins up with Polish resistance groups to fight for her people against the evils of the Holocaust.
Chaya Lindner is forcibly separated from her family when they are consigned to the Jewish ghetto in Krakow. The 16-year-old is taken in by the leaders of Akiva, a fledgling Jewish resistance group that offers her the opportunity to become a courier, using her fair coloring to pass for Polish and sneak into ghettos to smuggle in supplies and information. Chaya’s missions quickly become more dangerous, taking her on a perilous journey from a disastrous mission in Krakow to the ghastly ghetto of Lodz and eventually to Warsaw to aid the Jews there in their gathering uprising inside the walls of the ghetto. Through it all, she is partnered with a secretive young girl whom she is reluctant to trust. The trajectory of the narrative skews toward the sensational, highlighting moments of resistance via cinematic action sequences but not pausing to linger on the emotional toll of the Holocaust’s atrocities. Younger readers without sufficient historical knowledge may not appreciate the gravity of the events depicted. The principal characters lack depth, and their actions and the situations they find themselves in often require too much suspension of disbelief to pass for realism.
Sensitive subject matter that could have benefited from a subtler, more sober touch. (afterword) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-14847-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
Action-filled and engaging but considerate of both topic and audience, Ebo’s story effectively paints a picture of a child...
Ebo is known across his village for his beautiful singing voice, but will his voice keep him safe in his journey to the shores of Europe?
Readers follow the flight of Ebo, a Ghanaian refugee child, to Europe to find the siblings who fled before him. Ebo’s journey takes him across the scorching heat of the Sahara and through the streets of Tripoli, where he works to raise funds for passage across the Mediterranean. All the while, Ebo and the companions he meets along the way must elude the watchful eyes of the authorities who are constantly on alert for refugees. But after Ebo finally saves enough money and secures a seat on a boat crossing to Greece, he finds himself on the brink of death. Like all the others, it is too crowded; the engine is broken; and the fuel is slowly running out. Authors and illustrator take readers back and forth through time, building suspense as Ebo’s story of survival unfolds. The format allows sensitive and difficult topics such as murder, death, and horrific, traumatizing conditions to unfold for children, Ebo’s reactions speaking volumes and dramatic perspectives giving a sense of scope. A creators’ note provides factual context, and an appendix offers an Eritrean refugee’s minimemoir in graphic form.
Action-filled and engaging but considerate of both topic and audience, Ebo’s story effectively paints a picture of a child refugee’s struggle in a world crisscrossed by hostile borders. (Graphic fiction. 10-15)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6214-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
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