A moving and illuminating story of family, war, courage, and newfound home.
A Vietnamese family’s escape from impending war.
In 1975 Saigon, a young girl—based on the author’s older sister Linh—and her family cross a bustling street. It’s intimidatingly busy, but Ba and Ma taught her, “Don’t be afraid….Just walk. Don’t stop.” And with a deep breath, they make it. But soon the “slap slap of sandals” and “buzz hum of motorbikes” are joined by the new sounds of war—like warning whistles and booms. “Saigon is falling,” and the family, like many others, attempts to leave. Drawing from her and her family’s experience fleeing Vietnam, Mai Giang relied on accounts from Linh and others to tell this fictionalized story of the last commercial flight out of Saigon before its surrender to North Vietnam. Ba’s company, Pan Am, promised to fly the family to America, but bureaucracy and logistics complicate things as conflict grows. With the help and kindness of others, including Ba’s boss, Mr. Topping (who is Black), one last flight departs—with the protagonist and her family on it. Bringing the narrative full circle, with a deep breath, the family crosses the street to their new home. Mai Giang’s sensory-filled prose gently and evocatively communicates a personal wartime story. Phumiruk’s clean, soft illustrations, done in Photoshop and pencil, bring to life a gamut of emotions. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A moving and illuminating story of family, war, courage, and newfound home. (author’s note, facts about the flight, photo of author and her family, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-64614-086-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance.
With the words of Massachusetts colonial rebels ringing in her ears, a slave determines to win her freedom.
In 1780, Mumbet heard the words of the new Massachusetts constitution, including its declaration of freedom and equality. With the help of a young lawyer, she went to court and the following year, won her freedom, becoming Elizabeth Freeman. Slavery was declared illegal and subsequently outlawed in the state. Woelfle writes with fervor as she describes Mumbet’s life in the household of John Ashley, a rich landowner and businessman who hosted protest meetings against British taxation. His wife was abrasive and abusive, striking out with a coal shovel at a young girl, possibly Mumbet’s daughter. Mumbet deflected the blow and regarded the wound as “her badge of bravery.” Ironically, the lawyer who took her case, Theodore Sedgwick, had attended John Ashley’s meetings. Delinois’ full-bleed paintings are heroic in scale, richly textured and vibrant. Typography becomes part of the page design as the font increases when the text mentions freedom. Another slave in the Ashley household was named in the court case, but Woelfle, keeping her young audience in mind, keeps it simple, wisely focusing on Mumbet.
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance. (author’s note, selected bibliography, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6589-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
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