A headlong thriller laced with provocative and topical historical truths.
Now working for British intelligence after leaving Berlin in the Kindertransport, 12-year-old Max Bretzfeld returns to Nazi Germany on a secret mission.
During his ostensible mission—infiltrating the Funkhaus, the hub of Nazi radio and propaganda—Max not only faces continual danger, but also struggles with his conscience and even (briefly) his loyalty as he confronts some uncomfortably close parallels between the rabid racism of the Third Reich and that of both the British Empire and the United States throughout their histories. Max is also harboring a secret: Despite being expressly forbidden to do so by his adopted British uncle, he searches for his parents, only to discover strangers living in his family’s apartment. What follows is an absorbing whirl of narrow squeaks and tense, clever exploits, lightened by moments of comfort and comical commentary by Stein and Berg, the dybbuk and kobold spirits perched on Max’s shoulders. Gidwitz, who conducted careful research, realistically portrays a large walk-on cast of real Nazis, from Joseph Goebbels to Hitler himself, who explain how they rose to power and how nations can be led by the right narratives: “With these grand stories, we can bind our people together.” The cast of fictional ordinary Germans shows how seductive the Nazi promise to “make Germany great again” seemed. This sequel trusts readers with critically relevant insights on necessary vigilance and the human capacity for monstrous behavior.
A headlong thriller laced with provocative and topical historical truths. (historical notes, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593112113
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Poignant and heartwarming.
Zephyrina the cat, the “Robin Hood of felines,” rescues discarded toys so they can have new lives.
Zephyrina brings toys back to the apartment she shares with Elizaveta and her daughter, Dasha, refugees from war-torn Ukraine. Dasha reconditions Zephyrina’s rescues and sets them outside for three days, just in case they have owners who want to reclaim them. Afterward, they join the other toys in the parlor—the Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured. Dasha and Elizaveta don’t know that the toys are sentient. At midnight they abandon their rigid daytime postures to cavort and play, overseen by their leader, Pocket, a tiny mascot bear made to comfort soldiers during World War I. One night, Zephyrina brings back a dirty old bear, and Pocket is astounded. The new arrival, Berwon, might come from a lost shipment of the first-ever stuffed bears, sent from Germany to the U.S. in 1903—and if so, he’s worth a fortune. In the ensuing antics, the unpleasant villain Picky Vicky covets Berwon, and a kind museum curator does, too, but for different reasons. Applegate’s writing is exquisitely nuanced; she couches profound themes in accessible language that depicts relatable situations. Gentle, generous Elizaveta and Dasha poignantly underscore the human impact of wars. Santoso’s enchanting, delicate, black-and-white illustrations bring the timeless feeling of a classic to this hopeful, humanizing story of the distressed looking out for each other.
Poignant and heartwarming. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781250904362
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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