Refugee

From Publisher's Weekly
Winner Sydney Taylor for older readers

In this hard-hitting novel, Gratz (Projekt 1065) skillfully intertwines the stories of three protagonists seeking asylum with their respective families. Twelve-year-old Josef is fleeing Nazi Germany on a ship headed for Cuba in 1939; in 1994, 11-year-old Isabel leaves Cuba for the United States aboard a boat; and 12-year-old Mahmoud leaves Syria in 2015 after a bomb destroys his family’s apartment building. Though set in different political landscapes, the harrowing narratives share a sense of urgency, danger, and sacrifice, and the brief chapters keep each story fresh in readers’ minds. Each character confronts exceptional challenges: Josef must behave as the adult when his father returns shattered from a concentration camp, and Mahmoud realizes that the invisibility he cultivated in Aleppo is less of an asset in Greece (“They only see us when we do something they don’t want us to do”). Filled with both tragic loss and ample evidence of resilience, these memorable and tightly plotted stories contextualize and give voice to current refugee crises, underscoring that these journeys are born out of a desperate need for security and safety. Ages 9–12.

Excellent and moving..

The Librarian of Auschwitz

From Publisher's Weekly...

Winner Sydney Taylor teen

Drawing on his own interviews with Holocaust survivor Dita Kraus, who now lives in Israel, Spanish author Iturbe describes the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau in unflinching, straightforward prose (smoothly translated by Thwaites) that reflects his journalism background. A fierce lover of books, 14-year-old Dita helps out in the makeshift school of Block 31, the children’s block in the family camp, and volunteers to take care of eight precious but forbidden books, risking certain death if she were to be found out. The role of librarian for Block 31’s tiny collection gives Dita a sense of purpose in a bleak camp where death, torture, and humiliation are omnipresent. As Dita’s story unfolds, alternating between her present circumstances at the camp and her memories of Prague and the ghetto of Terezín (“a city where the streets led nowhere”), Iturbe interweaves the names and stories of other survivors and victims of Auschwitz, turning the narrative into a monument of remembrance and history. All but guaranteed to send readers searching for more information, this is an unforgettable, heartbreaking novel. Ages 13–up. 

Excellent, although very graphic descriptions.  

The Whydah

School Library Journal Reviews YANF honor

Gr 6 Up—Sandler dispels many popular pirate-related myths and offers a more realistic and factual view of the era of piracy in the New World. Instead of living in abject poverty at the mercy of kings and nobles, many men embraced piracy as a means to support their families and live a comfortable life, though one often filled with barbarous acts. The author weaves a fascinating story about piracy and the legendary 18th-century pirate ship Whydah, which sunk off the coast of Cape Cod on April 24, 1717, during a perfect storm. He delves into the fates of the few survivors, early salvage attempts by poor locals and wealthy governors alike, and the long-term work of explorer Barry Clifford to find the sunken ship. In 1985, Clifford and his crew discovered the inscribed galley bell of the Whydah, and for 30 years, divers, marine historians, and archaeologists have continued to retrieve artifacts from the ocean depths. Occasional sidebars on specific topics, such as the mythic origins of the Jolly Roger flag and artifact restoration, break up the narrative flow but do contain valuable information. Sandler's approach to the Whydah and other submerged ships as "sunken time capsules" is an interesting angle that is sure to resonate with aspiring archaeologists.

Good!

Long Way Down

From Publisher's Weekly..
Newbery Honor, CSK Honor, National Book Award Honor, Printz Honor

Will, 15, is following his neighborhood’s well-established rules—don’t cry, don’t snitch, but do get revenge “if someone you love/ gets killed”—when he leaves his apartment, intent on killing whoever murdered his older brother, Shawn. He’s emboldened by the gun tucked into his waistband: “I put my hand behind my back/ felt the imprint/ of the piece, like/ another piece/ of me/ an extra vertebra,/ some more/ backbone.” As Will makes his way to the ground floor of his building, the elevator stops to accept passengers, each an important figure from his past, all victims of gun violence. Are these ghosts? Or is it Will’s subconscious at work, forcing him to think about what he intends to do and what it will accomplish? The story unfolds in the time it takes for the elevator to descend, and it ends with a two-word question that hits like a punch to the gut. Written entirely in spare verse, this is a tour de force from a writer who continues to demonstrate his skill as an exceptionally perceptive chronicler of what it means to be a black teen in America. Ages 12–up.

Very powerful...

The Cruelty

From Publisher's Weekly...

Edgar Award nomination

Liam Neeson’s 2008 film Taken concerned a spy who engages in mass mayhem while attempting to recover his kidnapped daughter. Bergstrom reverses this plot in his violent, well-crafted first novel. Seventeen-year-old gymnast Gwendolyn Bloom doesn’t learn that her father is a genuine spy—and not merely an overworked State Department employee—until after he is kidnapped by international gangsters, and the CIA makes little attempt to recover him. Vowing to find her father, Gwen heads for Europe, where she is intercepted by a tough Israeli agent who trains her in Krav Maga and spycraft. The seedy, back-alley Europe that Gwen moves through comes alive as she traces her father to Prague and gains employment with his murderous captors. It’s a premise that demands a degree of suspended disbelief, but Bergstrom manages Gwen’s transformation from high school student to assassin believably enough, and he doesn’t avoid the toll Gwen’s actions take on her. Not for the weak of heart, this is a grim, fast-paced tale that stands knee-deep in dead bodies. Ages 17–up. 

Pretty exciting but a little unbelievable....some swearing and violence.  

#NotYourPrincess

From Publisher's Weekly...
YALSA NF award finalist

The team behind Dreaming in Indian again celebrates a range of indigenous perspectives through a vivid mixture of poetry, essays, and artwork. The book’s four sections correlate to themes of connection, abuse, stereotype, and power. Lianne Charlie contributes a grid of collages and photographs that reflect her creative output and cultural influences while mimicking the platform (Instagram) where she shares them. Sexual abuse and drug addiction surface in several entries (“girls like me/ break every day/ in this great city,” reads Gwen Benaway’s haunting “Honor Song”), and Tiffany Midge’s blistering “What’s There to Take Back?” scoffs at a publication’s call for submissions on the subject of reclaiming Peter Pan’s Tiger Lily (“Would anyone want to reclaim Frito Bandito? Aunt Jemima?... They are made from the same poison”). A closing section highlights stories and images of hope—athletes who have found success, an interview with a Cree doctor who overcame a traumatic youth, and a spread dedicated to teenage Standing Rock activist Anna Lee Rain Yellowhammer. A moving and powerful collection that draws strength from the variety of voices and lived experiences it represents. Ages 12–up. 

Beautiful and powerful!