by Tony Lee ; illustrated by Sam Hart & Flavio Costa ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2015
Striking visuals augment an already-captivating tale.
Having tackled Robin Hood in Outlaw (2009) and King Arthur in Excalibur (2011), Lee now envisions Joan of Arc's humble beginnings to her inevitable martyrdom.
In 15th-century France, war and turmoil are constants as the French struggle to throw off English rule. Jehanne d'Arc, a devout country maiden, begins to receive messages from God after a fall and a consequent hit to her head. Her divine voices instruct her how to lead the French out of their occupation and restore the monarchy. At a time when women could be condemned for simply wearing men’s clothes or cutting their hair, Joan is a fearless trailblazer who leads by faith, strength, and conviction even though she knows that she will eventually be martyred for her efforts. Joan is evinced as a stubborn, confident heroine, but Lee keeps her likable by emphasizing her love of her family as well as her piety. Though Joan's fate is foretold in the opening pages, a heroic blend of epic battles and palpable wartime tension keep the pages flying. Illustrator Hart cleverly plays with perspective in many panels, some offering over-the-shoulder or from-the-ankles-up views of a scene and others zooming out with shadowy, indistinct features, then sharply juxtaposing the next with clear, close-up shots of emotive and defined faces, creating a dramatically cinematic feel. He and co-colorist Costa keep tight control over palette and lighting to complement this effect.
Striking visuals augment an already-captivating tale. (Graphic historical fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7613-1
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
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by Tony Lee & illustrated by Sam Hart & Artur Fujita
by Alan Gratz ; Ruth Gruener ; Jack Gruener ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2013
A bone-chilling tale not to be ignored by the universe.
If Anne Frank had been a boy, this is the story her male counterpart might have told. At least, the very beginning of this historical novel reads as such.
It is 1939, and Yanek Gruener is a 10-year old Jew in Kraków when the Nazis invade Poland. His family is forced to live with multiple other families in a tiny apartment as his beloved neighborhood of Podgórze changes from haven to ghetto in a matter of weeks. Readers will be quickly drawn into this first-person account of dwindling freedoms, daily humiliations and heart-wrenching separations from loved ones. Yet as the story darkens, it begs the age-old question of when and how to introduce children to the extremes of human brutality. Based on the true story of the life of Jack Gruener, who remarkably survived not just one, but 10 different concentration camps, this is an extraordinary, memorable and hopeful saga told in unflinching prose. While Gratz’s words and early images are geared for young people, and are less gory than some accounts, Yanek’s later experiences bear a closer resemblance to Elie Wiesel’s Night than more middle-grade offerings, such as Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. It may well support classroom work with adult review first.
A bone-chilling tale not to be ignored by the universe. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-45901-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
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by Alan Gratz ; illustrated by Judit Tondora
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by Alan Gratz ; illustrated by Brent Schoonover
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by Alan Gratz
by Jennifer A. Nielsen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2018
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
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by Jennifer A. Nielsen ; illustrated by Jennifer A. Nielsen
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