A clever peek at early Hollywood exploring themes that still resonate today.
The sidekick in Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen (2020) takes center stage in this silent film–era sequel.
It’s 1915, and about a year has passed since 13-year-old white heiress Victorine Berryman vanished, assumed a new identity, and became a member of Darleen Darling’s family and their New Jersey photoplay production company. After watching an adventure loosely based on her own life, Vee dreams of becoming a photoplaywright. A family trip to Hollywood helps Vee realize her dream and brings the struggling Darling business a chance to showcase new technology. The shenanigans, which include stolen treasures and switched satchels, continue in the spirit of the first book and reflect serial adventures of the time. The girls head to California alone, where they stay with Hollywood royalty Lillian and Dorothy Gish, meet influential director Lois Weber, and become embroiled with a villainous artifact collector. This time, however, the over-the-top antics occasionally clash with more serious topics rather than being seamlessly integrated. Nesbet once again introduces an abundance of early film history, including D.W. Griffith’s controversial The Birth of a Nation. African American actors (both real and fictional) underscore the lack of opportunities for actors of color and offer a tarnished look at the silver screen. Vee comes to see the need for representation of more different voices and responsible approaches to making art. Ultimately, as she’s discovering her imagination as a playwright, Vee also claims her true self.
A clever peek at early Hollywood exploring themes that still resonate today. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781536228281
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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