A warm, engaging, and informative book that’s a valuable addition to children’s literature about war and conflict.
As their city is ravaged by war, two children and their community create an oasis of hope amid the destruction.
Nour, a young girl whose name means light in Arabic, calls Damascus her home. After school, she and her beloved cousin, Amir, read stories about detectives and dream of finding treasure, camping, and creating a secret club. After months of planning, they are finally ready to launch their club; however, on the day of the first meeting, the fighting draws near to their part of town, forcing them to shelter with their families in a neighbor’s basement. There, they are often without water or electricity, and sometimes food is scarce. From a small street-facing window, the children can see active shelling and watch buildings collapse, “spilling the things inside onto the streets like open suitcases.” The kids start collecting books from the rubble, and the Al-Fajr (Dawn) Library is born. Some of Mintzi’s beautiful pencil, gouache, and charcoal illustrations in warm earth tones capture the vibe of Damascus in peaceful times, showing minarets, houses hugging each other, busy streets, and orchards. Based on a true story of the Syrian civil war from the resistant town and people of Daraya, this book demonstrates the power of hope and community in difficult times and uniquely portrays people in conflict zones as educated and rich, culturally and intellectually. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A warm, engaging, and informative book that’s a valuable addition to children’s literature about war and conflict. (glossary, additional facts, author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 9-13)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64686-291-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Like Blume, Hiranandani resists simplistic, tidy solutions. Each excels in charting the fluctuating discomfort zones of...
Four decades separate Sonia Nadhamuni and Judy Blume’s Margaret Simon, but these feisty, funny offspring of Jewish interfaith marriages are sisters under the skin.
Perched on the uncertain cusp of adulthood, each grapples with perplexing cultural identity issues, but in very different worlds. While Margaret’s grandparents pressure her to label herself as they wish, it’s Sonia’s peers who expect her to define herself racially and culturally. Having a nominally Hindu, Indian-immigrant dad and Jewish-American mom wasn’t a big deal until her father lost his job. Now Sonia must leave her comfortably small private school behind and—with Dad sinking into clinical depression and Mom taking on more work—chart her own course at Maplewood Middle School. Where does she fit? With the cheerleaders like pretty, blonde Kate or the bussed-in, city kids like Alisha, who’s writing a novel? Sonia’s the only cheerleader not invited to Peter Hanson’s birthday party. Is racism the cause? As in real life, her challenges don’t come neatly compartmentalized; Sonia will have to work out her mixed-heritage identity while contending with stressed-out parents, financial woes and vexing social uncertainties. Multifaceted characters, especially Sonia—astute, observant and original—provide depth.
Like Blume, Hiranandani resists simplistic, tidy solutions. Each excels in charting the fluctuating discomfort zones of adolescent identity with affectionate humor. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-74128-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
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