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MY GUARDIAN ANGEL

Name: MY GUARDIAN ANGEL
Author: Sylvie Weil
ISBN: 0-439-57681-4

by Sylvie Weil & translated by Gillian Rosner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004

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Troyes, France, 1096, and Crusaders are heading to Jerusalem. The Jews, including Elvina, the 12-year-old granddaughter of the famed rabbi and Talmudic scholar Solomon ben Isaac, are terrified of the soldiers and their evil leader. Unlike most females of her time, feisty Elvina is literate, adores studying, and loves writing as much for its tactile satisfaction as for the intellectual exercise. She derives strength from this as well as from her mazal (Hebrew for guardian angel), whom she addresses in times of trouble and doubt. Elvina has much to ask from and tell her guiding spirit in the course of her tale: she secretly aids a wounded young deserter, a brazen act of charity that will have dangerous but ultimately joyful consequences for her and her community. Readers don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate this beautifully written story and its wonderfully realized characters and fascinating setting. Elvina, her grandfather (also known as “Rashi”), and their family members actually lived. Lovely. (afterword, glossary) (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-439-57681-4

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Levine/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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REFUGEE

by Alan Gratz ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2017

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

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Best Books Of 2017

New York Times Bestseller

Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

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)