An eye-opening story about the atrocities of World War II.
In Kamada’s historical novel, a teenage boy travels to Japan and witnesses the devastation wrought by World War II.
Zachary Whitlock is a young man of the Quaker faith living on Bainbridge Island in Washington. World War II has only recently come to a close, and Zachary is on a quest to find his purpose. Being Quakers, his family members are known as conscientious objectors; this status, combined with their close relationship with their Japanese American neighbors, the Miyotas, has made them targets of bigotry. An acquaintance, the actual historical figure Floyd Schmoe (“A Quaker. A conscientious objector. Almost a legend”), tells Zachary of the newly formed Heifer Project and its efforts to bring livestock to Japan to help the Japanese people rebuild after bombings by the United States. Zachary decides to join the cause and help shepherd more than 200 goats across the Pacific Ocean. To join Schmoe on his mission, Zachary must enlist in the Coast Guard, which is in direct defiance of his family’s deeply held religious beliefs. Zachary chooses not to enlist, but when the requirement to join the Coast Guard is suspended, Zachary quickly begins the long, sometimes perilous, journey overseas aboard the SS Contest. Zachary survives seasickness and typhoons on his way to Japan; once there, he is met with the harsh realities of the United States’ targeted firebombing and nuclear attacks that have claimed countless innocent Japanese lives. Part historical fiction, part travelogue, Kamada’s novel sensitively explores the aftermath of devastation and atrocity left out of most history lessons. Zachary is an empathetic figure and a relatable conduit for such an eye-opening story; however, his position as a white male hints at the “white savior” trope, which is only partially mitigated by the historical context of the Heifer Project. Ultimately, though, this an earnest, well-researched novel and a worthy exploration of an often overlooked piece of history.
An eye-opening story about the atrocities of World War II.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781685136406
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 18, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.
A falsely accused Black man goes into hiding in this masterful novella by Wright (1908-1960), finally published in full.
Written in 1941 and '42, between Wright’s classics Native Son and Black Boy, this short novel concerns Fred Daniels, a modest laborer who’s arrested by police officers and bullied into signing a false confession that he killed the residents of a house near where he was working. In a brief unsupervised moment, he escapes through a manhole and goes into hiding in a sewer. A series of allegorical, surrealistic set pieces ensues as Fred explores the nether reaches of a church, a real estate firm, and a jewelry store. Each stop is an opportunity for Wright to explore themes of hope, greed, and exploitation; the real estate firm, Wright notes, “collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent from poor colored folks.” But Fred’s deepening existential crisis and growing distance from society keep the scenes from feeling like potted commentaries. As he wallpapers his underground warren with cash, mocking and invalidating the currency, he registers a surrealistic but engrossing protest against divisive social norms. The novel, rejected by Wright’s publisher, has only appeared as a substantially truncated short story until now, without the opening setup and with a different ending. Wright's take on racial injustice seems to have unsettled his publisher: A note reveals that an editor found reading about Fred’s treatment by the police “unbearable.” That may explain why Wright, in an essay included here, says its focus on race is “rather muted,” emphasizing broader existential themes. Regardless, as an afterword by Wright’s grandson Malcolm attests, the story now serves as an allegory both of Wright (he moved to France, an “exile beyond the reach of Jim Crow and American bigotry”) and American life. Today, it resonates deeply as a story about race and the struggle to envision a different, better world.
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59853-676-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Library of America
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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