A powerful, insightful perspective on the Holocaust.
Making considerable use of primary sources, Berne tells the affecting story of the Kindertransport, a rescue effort that brought thousands of mostly Jewish children to Great Britain from Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1940.
Following Kristallnacht, British Jewish and Quaker leaders appealed to the British government to permit the temporary admission of unaccompanied Jewish children, with priority given to orphans and those whose parents were in concentration camps. Among the leaders was Sir Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who died in 2015 at 106. Organized before the outbreak of war and the implementation of the Final Solution, the effort was planned under the assumption that families would be reunited. Most children whose parents were alive when they left Germany never saw them again, and many of the children were the sole members of their families who survived. Berne focuses on the stories of seven of these children. In their own words, the survivors poignantly recount the pain of leaving loved ones behind and their experiences as refugees. The final chapter briefly explains what became of each survivor after the war. That Berne tells this story in language that makes it accessible to middle graders is no small feat, and though it is a brief account, it does its best to encompass the enormity of the Holocaust, mentioning, for instance, that “gay people, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses, and people who disagreed with Hitler's political policies” were targeted as well as Jews.
A powerful, insightful perspective on the Holocaust. (photos, timeline, glossary, bibliography, source notes) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5157-4546-4
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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