Critical historical information conveyed through poems that don’t do justice to the subject’s emotional weight.
The story of a friendship torn apart when Nazi ideology arrives on America’s shores.
It’s 1937, and two young best friends—Benjamin Puterman, who is Jewish, and Thomas Anspach, who is German American and presumably Christian—are anticipating the joys of summer. But Tommy’s harsh father has other plans: He enrolls his 13-year-old son in Camp Nordland in rural New Jersey. The camp’s purpose is to immerse German American youths in their heritage, including the propaganda of Hitler’s Nazi Party, and Tommy quickly learns that he can’t be friends with Benjy anymore. But the people of New Jersey aren’t staying silent about Nordland, and when Benjy’s father joins the Newark Minutemen, a group of “anti-Nazi vigilantes,” Benjy, also 13, pleads with his elders to let him help. His plea leads to the founding of the Minutekids. As the years pass and Hitler marches across Europe, Benjy and Tommy, who are in school together, circle each other. When the 1940s roll around, the ground shifts. Is reconciliation possible? Each boy struggles with different types of personal adversity, and the challenges of their relationship highlight an important, lesser-known chapter in U.S. history. Unfortunately, many of the poems feel flat, and the two teens’ voices sound very alike and not much like those of real adolescents.
Critical historical information conveyed through poems that don’t do justice to the subject’s emotional weight. (author’s note, glossary, timeline, source notes, bibliography, further reading/viewing, picture credits) (Verse historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781662680250
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
An impressive, albeit stuffed, conclusion to the duology.
Several months after losing Orion to Lady Hong in Foul Lady Fortune (2022), Rosalind Lang sets out to save her kidnapped partner.
Since the confrontation at Warehouse 34, a heartbroken Rosalind has remained sequestered in her apartment to avoid reporters who want a glimpse of the Nationalist assassin Fortune. When the Nationalists refuse to rescue Orion and reveal plans to decommission Rosalind, she volunteers to tour the country, using her fame to boost Chinese morale in the face of Japanese military aggression. Rosalind’s true motive, however, is to lure out Lady Hong and Orion, and she sets herself as bait by claiming to possess Lady Hong’s final vial of a serum that creates invincible supersoldiers. As soon as the Communists discern Rosalind’s plan, they assign Celia Lang and Oliver Hong to follow Rosalind and capture Orion for their own cause. Meanwhile, Nationalist triple agent Silas Wu continues his single-minded pursuit of the enigmatic Communist sharpshooter Priest, unaware that Priest is actually Phoebe Hong, who is equally determined to maintain her facade as merely Orion and Oliver’s younger sister. Conflicting loyalties and long-held secrets put characters to the test in this packed but nonetheless fast-paced sequel, which is told by the main cast in third-person narration. With the stakes higher than ever, they must carefully choose whom to trust as they race against time to save their friends, family, and country.
An impressive, albeit stuffed, conclusion to the duology. (Historical fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781665905619
Page Count: 560
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Frankly a delight.
A lively queer Camelot for modern audiences.
Several hundred years after the time of the fabled king Arthur Pendragon, Gwendoline and her older brother, Gabriel, are princess and prince of Camelot. Gwen has been betrothed since birth to Arthur Delacey, whose father’s family claims ancestry from Mordred. Gwen’s first problem with this arrangement is that she and Arthur hate each other. The second is revealed when Arthur comes to the royal castle for the summer tournament in which knights compete for renown—and Gwen catches him making out with a servant boy. But then Arthur obtains proof of Gwen’s obsession with Lady Bridget Leclair, England’s only female knight and a competitor in the tourney. Engaging in mutual blackmail, they form an understanding, though over the course of the summer it turns into an initially begrudging, then supportive friendship, especially when Arthur starts learning more about heir-to-the-throne Gabe. In this fun summer romance, Croucher creates main characters who feel distinctly modern in their dialogue and interactions. They maneuver through the historical setting, including social expectations and limited medical care, in ways that both seem natural and often offer commentary on more current affairs. This is a wonderful expansion of the YA romance genre. Gwen and her family are white, and she is coded queer and demisexual. Arthur is Iranian on his mother’s side and coded gay, as is Gabe. There is additional diversity in the supporting cast.
Frankly a delight. (Historical romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781250847218
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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