historical fiction

Once

| Tasha

Once by Morris Gleitzman

This book looks at the Holocaust through the lens of one boy.  Felix is an extraordinary boy whose head is filled with stories that help explain the horrors he sees around himself.  His parents had left him in a Catholic orphanage to keep him safe as Poland was invaded.  But when he saw the books from the orphanage library being burned, he feared his parents were in danger since they were book sellers.  He isn’t sure why the Nazis hate books so much, but he certainly doesn’t want his parents to be hurt.  So Felix runs away from the orphanage and towards the big city, which means he is heading directly toward the Nazis.  As Felix travels, he tries to make sense of what he is seeing.  At first he naively explains much of it away, but as the book progresses he begins to understand what is happening to him and the people he loves.  Powerfully written, this book allows children to understand the horrors of the Holocaust without being overwhelmed.  It also shows children that they too can be heroes even when their world is falling apart.

In this book, Gleitzman has hit the balance perfectly between honestly depicting the atrocities of the Holocaust and yet making it accessible and appropriate for young readers.  He does this entirely through Felix who is an incredible protagonist, protectively telling himself untruths and stories about what he is witnessing.  It is a powerful device to use, as we see Felix almost killed time and again.  Because of Felix’s misunderstanding of the situation he is in, the book can be chilling and frightening.  Modern readers will understand more clearly than Felix what being a young Jew in Nazi-occupied Poland means. 

Gleitzman’s writing is wry and warm.  Told in Felix’s voice, the story is gripping, filled with action, and moves along at a brisk pace.  This brisk pace can be alarming as Felix is almost always moving closer and closer to more perilous areas and situations.  Gleitzman plays with our own understanding of history, creating our own lens to contrast with Felix’s. 

This is the sort of book that invites you in for carrot stew, shares stories whispered in the dark, and brings you to tears.  It is a story to savor, to linger with, to be amazed by.  I don’t hug every book I read, but this is one that I had to sit with my arms wrapped around for a bit.  I was holding Felix tightly to me because he had become so vivid and real to me as I read.

Beautifully done, this book should be shared with classes learning about the Holocaust.  It is a story of hope, a celebration of childhood, and a way to tell young people the truth of history.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

Alchemy and Meggy Swann

| Tasha

Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman

The Newbery Medal winner for The Midwife’s Apprentice returns with a book set in Elizabethan London.  Meggy has been summoned for by a father she has never met.  When she arrives at his doorstep with only clothes and her lone friend, a goose, she is met with disdain and dismissal.  It could be that she is a girl, but it probably also that Meggy can’t walk without using two crutches.  She calls her gait “wabbling” and has spent her life hidden from sight at her mother’s inn.  Now Meggy doesn’t have any choice but to head out into the streets of London to find food since her father has more important things to do than feed her.  He is an alchemist searching for the secrets of transformation and perfection.  When Meggy heads out into the streets, she makes more friends than she ever has had before, finds a young man who could be more than a friend, and allows readers to experience the colors, smells, and noises of life in England at this time.

Cushman has created a marvel here.  It is a short novel filled with entrancing details about Meggy and her surroundings that never bogs down and moves along without any “wabbling.”  Meggy is a great character.  She is far from perfect which makes her very interesting.  She is sharp-tongued and says her mind.  She is brave but often frightened.  She is scorned but also makes lasting friends.  She is a wonderful, realistic enigma whose wide eyes make a great lens to see Elizabethan England through.  Her growth throughout this book is truthful and lovely to experience.  It is especially noteworthy in such a short book.

Beautifully written with a strong female heroine, Cushman is at the top of her game with this title.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Clarion Books.

Also reviewed by Book Aunt, BooksforKidsBlog, Children’s Books Too Cool for School, Rebecca’s Book Blog, and Reading It All.

Mama Miti

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Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Wangari grew up in a Kenya covered in trees.  When she moved and lived in the city, she still planted tress in her backyard.  They refreshed her spirit whenever she sat under them.  Poor women started coming to Wangari for advice and it was always the same, she advised them to plant trees.  Trees could feed them, give them fire wood, feed animals, provide medicine, keep out predators, and build new homes.  The trees returned to Kenya and so did the strength of the country.

Beautifully illustrated by Kadir Nelson, this version of Wangari’s story is delightful.  Napoli tells the true story with nod towards oral storytelling.  Her text reads aloud beautifully with a rhythm and cadence that really work well.  Her use of repetition is done with restraint, adding to the sense of heritage and lore.  Nelson’s illustrations are exquisite.  Done in oil paints and fabrics, they too are about heritage and a sense of place.  The faces of the people throughout the book have a strength and a presence that will have readers lingering over them. 

A lovely book about an inspiring figure who teaches us that each person can have an enormous impact upon their nation and the environment.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Also reviewed by Homegrown Families, The Booknosher, Jump Into a Book, Books for Kids, Kiss the Book, Advice from a Caterpillar, and Brimful Curiosities.

One Crazy Summer

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One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Eleven-year-old Delphine has looked after her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, ever since her mother left them soon after Fern’s birth seven years ago.  Now she and her sisters have traveled across the United States from Brooklyn to Oakland, California to see the mother they barely remember.  Once there, they discover a distant woman who won’t let them into her kitchen, feeds them only takeout, and insists that they are gone outside all day.  She sends the girls to a summer camp run by the Black Panthers where they are educated about revolution and black rights.  Set during in 1968, the girls see first hand the changing times.  Written with a depth of character, pitch-perfect dialogue, and a great deal of warmth, this book is an amazing work of children’s fiction.

Williams-Garcia has outdone herself with this novel.  Her portrayal of the girls, their mother and the Black Panthers is done even handedly and with appreciation for what was being done.  Cecile, the mother, is a complicated figure with a complex history and a fractured relationship with her children.  Williams-Garcia’s depiction of her is captivating in both good and bad ways.   This book reads as though it is about real people, with real personalities living during real times.  The characters grow convincingly throughout the story, with no one leaving behind their personality for sudden, simple change.  It is all deeper and more honest than that.

Highly recommended, I would expect this book to garner Newbery attention as well as Coretta Scott King Award interest.  This would work well in a classroom, since it is filled with moments worth discussing.  It would also make a fantastic summer read.  Appropriate for ages 9-13.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by The Goddess of YA Literature, Bib-Laura-graphy, A Patchwork of Books, Muddy Puddle Musings, Fuse #8, A Chair, A Fireplace & a Tea Cozy, and Young Books.

Arbor Day Square

| Tasha

Arbor Day Square by Kathryn O. Galbraith, illustrated by Cyd Moore

Everything in the prairie town is brand new because the town itself has just been built by settlers.  There is a church, stores, and a school, but what is missing is trees!  Everyone donates coins to send east for trees to plant.  When they arrive, Katie is alarmed at how small the trees are, but her father reassures her that they will live and grow.  Katie helps her father plant the trees, even a special dogwood in memory of her mother.  Year after year, the town gathered on Arbor Day to plant more and more trees.  Katie now came with her own daughter to celebrate the day and linger under her mother’s tree. 

This picture book is based on the creation of Arbor Day in the new state of Nebraska in 1872.  Ideal for release in April, this book is a glimpse into the history of Arbor Day and the importance of planting trees.  Galbraith’s text is simple and at times poetic.  She uses repeating phrases and rhythm subtly and effectively.  Particularly effective is having Katie as the protagonist of the story and the lens through which readers view the history and the planting.  Moore’s illustrations are soft with a lovely vintage tone to them that suits the subject.  The transformation from dusty prairie to a lush green  filled with trees is reflected in the illustrations with a nice gradual palette change.

Pick this one up for Arbor Day!  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Peachtree Publishers.

Eidi

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Eidi by Bodil Bredsdorff

This second book in The Children of Crow Cove series begins years after the first.  This book focuses on Eidi, the daughter of Foula who has just had a baby, Eidi’s half-brother.  The house feels to crowded with the baby and Eidi decides it is time that she heads off to help the shepherd Rossan by spinning his wool into yarn.  When she reaches his home, Rossan is about to head off to town to sell his wool, so she accompanies him.  Eidi acclimates to the town, which is the largest community she has ever seen.  While she is there, she gets work with a man to knit shawls and discovers a beaten and underfed boy.  She befriends the boy but is soon in a situation where she has to take drastic action to save him.

Bredsdorff’s language is so simple that it is poetry.  Her writing matches the simple lives of the people, their hard work, and the Danish landscape where there is beauty and harshness.  Reading this second book was like returning to a place you never knew you had been missing.  The book is without pretense as the story is told matter-of-factly but with such attention to detail that it is like living it.  Here is one lovely example from Page 15:

Eidi got out of her settle bed and put on her clothes.  When she stepped outside, she could see everything plainly in the dawn twilight, but it was all gray.  The houses were light gray, the roofs dark gray, the sky overcast, without a star.  It as a world where color didn’t exist.  She sat down on the stone steps and waited, without knowing what she was waiting for.

The passage continues as the sun rises and color returns to the landscape.  This is writing that speaks volumes without being verbose.  Haunting, beautiful and skillfully done.

Characters in the book are complex.  Bredsdorff is not afraid of having villains be human, heroes make bad choices, or having people who are both hero and villain at once.  Though simple, her book has layers of meaning.  Lessons are learned with no preaching, children are not cosseted but are seen as capable, strong and vital. 

Highly recommended, this book is a great sequel to the first.  Read both of them to have the full experience of Crow Cove.  Appropriate for ages 10-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Kisses on the Wind

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Kisses on the Wind by Lisa Moser, illustrated by Kathryn Brown

The covered wagon is being packed for the long trip to Oregon, but Lydia can’t imagine leaving her grandmother so far behind.  As her departure nears, Lydia and her grandmother walk together in the woods, float bark boats in the pond, and rest together in the long grass.  Grandma gives her a book filled with her stories to take along on the trip. They both quietly, solemnly, and beautifully say goodbye.

This is a picture book that will make your heart ache.  The gentle and prolonged farewell of these two people who obviously are kindred spirits is depicted with a real beauty and care.  Moser crafts a quiet story that is very moving.  Brown’s art matches the gentleness of the story perfectly with its muted colors and gentle lines.  The book never descends into maudlin emotionalism, in fact it is its inherent restraint that makes it work so well.  Bright-eyed Grandma, Lydia with her fly-away hair, and the natural setting all provide an antidote to excessive sweetness.

An ideal book for children who are moving, children whose extending family is moving away, or children of divorce.  It is a book that will work in many setting for many children, a book that really shows and feels the sadness of leaving someone behind.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Becky at Young Readers.

The Day of the Pelican

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The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

Meli and her family are Albanians living in Kosovo.  They are in grave danger.  Her older brother, Mehmet is detained after leaving school one day.  He is finally returned home to his family.  So many people are being killed by Serbs that they are forced to flee their home, leaving their store and almost everything else behind.  The family is forced first into tents in the mountains where they are safe for a short time, sleeping in a single shared tent and living without running water or electricity.  Mehmet expresses interest in joining the Kosovo Liberation Party and the family leaves the mountains to keep him safe.  They then live with their uncle in the family’s small farm with many people living under one roof.  They live in constant fear of being discovered and turned out of their home with the tiny babies, elderly grandmother, and small children.  Eventually they are forced to become refugees and the family is forced to separate with Meli and her immediate family going to the United States.

Paterson tells a gripping story of heroism, courage and family ties in this brief novel.  As readers experience the fear and uncertainty through Meli’s eyes they will be moved by her story.  This book captures the emotions of war without allowing them to overtake the storyline.  Instead the book is about everyday people becoming heroes, small choices that mean living one more day, and endurance in the face of such hatred.  Paterson rights with an honesty and a tautness that makes the book easy to read but difficult to digest. 

This is an important book that is not just about the Albanians in Kosovo, but about all wars, all displaced people, and their courage and strength.  Paterson takes a single incident among many and makes it universal and true.  Highly recommended, this is a great book for classroom exploration and discussion.   Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from ARC received at the ALA Conference. 

The Silver Blade

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The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner

This sequel to The Red Necklace is just as winning a book as the first.  Readers are once again taken into the French Revolution with Yann and Sido.  Yann is still rescuing people from the bloody edge of the guillotine, spiriting them out of the country using his innate magic of the threads of light.  His nemesis Count Kalliovski is now living deep under Paris in the catacombs and is once again seeking Sido for his demonic uses.  This is a magical romance set against the horror of the French Revolution.  It is a dark but shining novel which could be described as the Scarlet Pimpernel for teens.

Gardner creates books with a unique mix of historical fiction and fantasy.  Her historical fiction is so vivid that one might just think that the fantasy interwoven into the story is part of that actual history.  Gardner’s language is just as powerful and deep as the novel itself.  Here is a passage on page 76 of the novel where she describes the darkness in the catacombs:

Yet here, where no sunlight had ever been, the darkness had an altogether unfamiliar texture.  No dawn would break through these shadowy corridors.  This darkness would never remember the light of a lantern’; it would be nothing more than a pinprick in the liquid heart of eternal night.  So powerful was this absence of light that for the first time, Yann experienced the sensation of being blind.

She weaves her story together out of the different strands of light and dark.  She takes the vilest of characters and brings them unflinchingly to life while also creating a hero for the ages.  The story is as riveting and fascinating as the first book thanks to her strong characterization and great action sequences.

Get this pair of books in the hands of teens who like either historical fiction or fantasy.  Both sets will enjoy it immensely.  Appropriate for ages 13-16. 

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.