While some will find the story profoundly moving, overall this is a ponderous and outmoded narrative for a niche audience.
Holocaust survivor Appelfeld’s (The Man Who Never Stopped Sleeping, 2017, etc.) posthumous middle-grade novel.
When Jewish Michael is still a boy, his father sends him to assume a gentile identity as Yanek and live on the road under the guidance of Grandpa Sergei, a Ukrainian former employee and soldier. Their relationship is mutually beneficial: Grandpa Sergei is blind and appreciates assistance in navigating the countryside while Yanek needs help surviving as a wanderer. Grandpa Sergei has one goal: to deliver his charge safely home after World War II is over. Along the way, he shares his insights with Yanek, training him to fight for justice. Appelfeld’s prose, translated from Hebrew, is spare, slow, and matter-of-fact. Focusing on the wisdom of Grandpa Sergei, who at one time wanted to be a priest, the narrative is heavily religious, and lessons are presented with little subtlety. Ableist language, while perhaps historically accurate, is used throughout, and there is a particularly surprising scene in which Grandpa Sergei casually endorses statutory rape. Contemporary readers who are unaware of the historical context and changing gender norms may struggle to make sense of the repeated message that crying denotes weakness. Characters default to white.
While some will find the story profoundly moving, overall this is a ponderous and outmoded narrative for a niche audience. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-60980-898-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A beautifully executed victory lap for a beloved series.
An origin story for the man who provides wisdom and a sense of cohesion for the young runners who star in Reynolds’ celebrated series.
Years before Coach guided the members of the Defenders through hurdles on and off the field, he was a 12-year-old boy known as Otie. Otie’s a gifted runner, though impulsive (as his mother says, “Your body’s fast, but your mind don’t always move at the same speed”), and he’s thrilled to learn that the scout who helped his idol, Carl Lewis, make it to the 1984 Olympics four years ago will be arriving soon to assess the talent on his team. His loving parents encourage him—and do their best to keep him away from the influence of the Clippers, a gang that sells drugs in his predominantly Black neighborhood. When his father, who’s frequently away for work, returns with a gift of Jordans, Otie is even more excited, but the cherished sneakers serve as the catalyst for learning difficult truths about his father. Reynolds does a remarkable job of using pop culture references—from Michael Jackson to Back to the Future—to establish a sense of time and place. As always, his command of language is masterly, with crackling dialogue, propulsive plotting, and adroit characterization: Readers will emerge with a rich portrait of the forces that created the man whose mentorship would have a powerful effect on so many young people.
A beautifully executed victory lap for a beloved series. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9798347102372
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.
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)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-88083-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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