Sheds light on a fascinating episode in history but sadly does not do justice to the nuances.
Twelve-year-old Natsu lives with her father and 6-year-old sister, Asa, in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in northern China.
Kachan died while giving birth to Asa, so when Tochan is conscripted to support Japan’s failing war effort, Auntie, an older neighbor, moves in—but the summer of 1945 brings the Soviet invasion. The settlers set off on foot toward the city of Harbin. Facing harsh weather, angry Chinese villagers, bullets from Soviet planes, hunger, and exhaustion, many die along the way. Harbin is filled with desperate Japanese, and Natsu begs on the streets, dreaming of finding Tochan. Some parents kill their own children, believing that a more merciful fate; others sell them to Chinese or Russians, hoping they will at least be fed and cared for. Unfortunately, the characters and their relationships feel static and two-dimensional in Natsu’s free-verse narration, limiting the emotional impact. The historical note troublingly compares the plight of Japanese settlers who took over Chinese land and whose government inflicted appalling atrocities on the local population (glossed over in the book) to refugees such as those from Rwanda and Syria. Readers may struggle to make sense of a scene in which Natsu and Asa aggressively confront a hungry Chinese boy. The suffering of the Japanese settlers—duped and abandoned by their country—and the suffering of the Chinese they displaced are not fully contextualized.
Sheds light on a fascinating episode in history but sadly does not do justice to the nuances. (afterword) (Historical verse fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-15921-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-395-53680-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.
Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.
Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.
A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780593527542
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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