by Mark Kurlansky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2011
Pair this penetrating examination of a teen's interior process with Walter Dean Myers' Fallen Angels (1988) for a discussion...
When Joel declares himself a Conscientious Objector to the Vietnam War, he feels as though his whole life has been leading to this moment.
In this first-person narrative, Joel recounts the events in his childhood that influence his decision. He grows up surrounded by World War II veterans and plays war using their old uniforms. Most of the vets do not talk about their experiences, but it is clear that they are haunted by them—battle fatigue, they call it. This leaves Joel, and readers along with him, struggling to understand the necessity of war, especially when, in the end, we befriend our former enemies, as with the former Axis powers. His father says that the war might not have occurred if more Germans had opposed Hitler's policies. It is this point that Joel keeps coming back to when he realizes that Vietnam will be his battleground: Is he able to stand against policies he abhors, regardless of the consequences? Readers willing to stick with this leisurely recollection will find that the pace picks up when Joel receives his draft notice during one of the most tumultuous periods in the country's history; even families are divided on the issue, and the personal and societal pressures that Joel faces are tremendous.
Pair this penetrating examination of a teen's interior process with Walter Dean Myers' Fallen Angels (1988) for a discussion about teens and the Vietnam War. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2264-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
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by Katherena Vermette illustrated by Scott B. Henderson Donovan Yaciuk ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2018
A sparse, beautifully drawn story about a teen discovering her heritage.
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In this YA graphic novel, an alienated Métis girl learns about her people’s Canadian history.
Métis teenager Echo Desjardins finds herself living in a home away from her mother, attending a new school, and feeling completely lonely as a result. She daydreams in class and wanders the halls listening to a playlist of her mother’s old CDs. At home, she shuts herself up in her room. But when her history teacher begins to lecture about the Pemmican Wars of early 1800s Saskatchewan, Echo finds herself swept back to that time. She sees the Métis people following the bison with their mobile hunting camp, turning the animals’ meat into pemmican, which they sell to the Northwest Company in order to buy supplies for the winter. Echo meets a young girl named Marie, who introduces Echo to the rhythms of Métis life. She finally understands what her Métis heritage actually means. But the joys are short-lived, as conflicts between the Métis and their rivals in the Hudson Bay Company come to a bloody head. The tragic history of her people will help explain the difficulties of the Métis in Echo’s own time, including those of her mother and the teen herself. Accompanied by dazzling art by Henderson (A Blanket of Butterflies, 2017, etc.) and colorist Yaciuk (Fire Starters, 2016, etc.), this tale is a brilliant bit of time travel. Readers are swept back to 19th-century Saskatchewan as fully as Echo herself. Vermette’s (The Break, 2017, etc.) dialogue is sparse, offering a mostly visual, deeply contemplative juxtaposition of the present and the past. Echo’s eventual encounter with her mother (whose fate has been kept from readers up to that point) offers a powerful moment of connection that is both unexpected and affecting. “Are you…proud to be Métis?” Echo asks her, forcing her mother to admit, sheepishly: “I don’t really know much about it.” With this series opener, the author provides a bit more insight into what that means.
A sparse, beautifully drawn story about a teen discovering her heritage.Pub Date: March 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-55379-678-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HighWater Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Mackenzi Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 2021
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
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