Book-Reviews

The Children of the King

The Children of the King, by Sonya Hartnett; Candlewick Press: Somerville, Massachusetts, 2014; $16.99 It is too dangerous to stay in London. The threat of bombs falling overhead is constant, and now that France has fallen, Cecily’s parents are getting worried. So they decide to send Cecily and her brother Jeremy (along with their mother) to their Uncle Peregrine’s house until it’s “safe” enough. Although Cecily is perfectly happy to stay with her favorite uncle, Jeremy is frustrated. He feels like he’s not a child anymore at the age of fourteen and should help with the war. He wants to do anything, anything to help, which leads to reckless decisions later on. If you haven’t realized it yet, it’s World War II, and reckless decisions can end you up in situations you don’t want to be in. Especially when you are on the battlefield, and your only decision is to kill—or be killed. This isn’t the first book I have read about World War II, and it certainly won’t be the last. How can I read about such horrible times? How do I stand to listen to those terrifying stories? Because these stories are in my blood. My mom grew up in the Soviet Union. As you can expect, so did her parents, my grandparents. So did my great-grandparents. Yes. My great-grandparents on my mother’s side, two of whom are alive now, lived in the Soviet Union during World War II. To top it off, they were Jewish, and they were each very young then, high-schoolers at most. As you can expect, they each had their very own interesting story that happened during that time. One of my great-grandfathers fled to a safer part of the country, where he finished school and started going to the university when he was only sixteen. My great-grandmothers also fled to different parts of the country, where they could be safe and sound from the Nazis. Meanwhile, my other great-grandfather, who was only eighteen, got automatically signed up to fight in the war. He doesn’t tell anyone what happened during those times, but I can only imagine how horrible it was. I read these stories so I can know what was happening on other sides of the globe during this dreadful period of time. Stories of bombs, murder, and loss, but they are connected to me, and all of us, through our blood. We must know our history. During this time, many children got separated from their parents. May was one of these children. She was sent alone to the countryside, to be taken as part of a new family until it was safe enough for her to go home. She was an evacuee, and if she wasn’t taken by a family, who knows what would have happened to her. So it’s lucky for her that Cecily spots her and decides that she would make a good friend. They take May to their home, and everyone quickly adapts to the new lifestyle. Well, except for Jeremy. He still feels helpless in the war and doesn’t like the feeling. Then one day, Jeremy runs off to London. With no one knowing where he was, when he was coming back, or if he was even safe, the two girls got worried, and not only about him. Would he come back? And who were the two boys hiding in the woods? This was a wonderful book, and the thrill it gave me as I read it was also. I’d recommend it to anyone, anywhere. Nicole Cooper, 11Urbana, Illinois

The Silver Donkey

The Silver Donkey, by Sonya Hartnett; Candlewick Press: Somerville, Massachusetts, 2014; $8.99 “As they approached the hollow where the man lay, they were aggrieved to spy him sitting up. Clearly he was not dead. And although they had crept as quietly as they could, and kept themselves hidden behind tree trunks and weeds, the sharp-eared man must have heard—for he looked up from the fallen leaves, and stared directly at them.” This quote from The Silver Donkey starts the amazing adventure of two sisters, little Coco and her older sister, Marcelle, who live in a small town in France. In the middle of a walk in the woods the sisters stumble upon a man they believe is dead, only to find he is a sleeping soldier blinded from war named Lieutenant Shepard. The Silver Donkey is a book beautifully written by Sonya Hartnett. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t stop. Maybe it was because of all the details she put in the book, which made it seem like I was really there. Or maybe it was because of her use of metaphors. But it was probably because of how meaningful the book was and how much it moved me. I have always been the type of person who wanted to help other people and that is exactly what Coco and Marcelle wanted to do. Coco and Marcelle did whatever they could to take care of the soldier. They snuck him food, drink, and a pillow. In turn, the soldier dazzled the girls with stories and showed them his good luck charm that he carried with him—a little silver donkey. During the days ahead, the sisters nourish Shepard with food and comfort and spend as much time with him as possible. They listen as he tells them about his life and the war and, more importantly, four stories, each about a loyal, humble, forgiving, noble, brave, hard-working creature—the donkey. I have always been an animal lover and I have even adopted an elephant from Kenya, but I never knew anything about the donkey. In the stories the donkey was always the hero. Whether it was to carry Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary to Bethlehem, or to rescue wounded soldiers, or to make the sky rain and save a village from drought, or to be a symbol of hope to Shepard’s ill brother and personify a message to always do your best. Shepard also shares with the girls his hope and dream of going home, to cross the Channel to see his sickly younger brother, John. Even though this is a story about war, I was not scared to read it. What was important to me was the relationship between the soldier and the girls. I love the fact that these girls who are about my age could make such a difference in his life. I think the most important thing in life is to be happy, and I try to make others happy, whether it’s helping a friend who is sad or doing chores for my parents. At the end of the book the girls find someone to take the soldier on a boat to go home. We don’t know if he makes it in time to see his brother, but my imagination tells me he does. Although I am happy for the soldier, I was sad to see him leave, just like the girls were. However, I was excited to read that he left behind his prized possession for Coco to find—the silver donkey. It was a true buried treasure and a reminder to her to always do her best and be trustworthy and brave. Myla Indigaro, 10Los Angeles, California

Kira-Kira

Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata; Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing: New York, 2006; $6.99 Once in a blue moon, you come upon a book which you believe is the pure embodiment of perfection. You read the novel in what seems like a single breath, and by the time you have read the last perfectly tailored word, you would be just as happy to read the entire thing again, if only to experience the magic another time. This book entraps you, entangles you, enthrals you, makes you smile whenever you touch its spine. If you had your way, you would make everyone in the world read it. A book such as this is Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata. Kira Kira centers on the life of Katie Takeshima, who moves with her family from their home in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia. This move is a drastic change for Katie. In her new town, everyone stops and stares at her and her family. Some people marvel at her skin, her hair, and her eyes, but others just sneer at her and her family. Katie just can’t figure it out. The only one who is patient enough to explain their new circumstances to her is her elder sister, Lynn. In Lynn’s eyes, the entire world is an enigma, a shimmery wonderland only to be described by the Japanese word kira-kira, meaning glittery or shiny. Lynn teaches Katie the beauty in every life and the magic that every day brings. However, tragedy strikes, and Lynn, the only one who ever truly understands Katie, falls prey to sickness. Katie has to grow up much too fast and, in doing so, forgets Lynn’s lessons about the world. I connected to this book on a spiritual level. In fact, my perception of the world was inspired very much by Lynn Takeshima. Once upon a time, I was an immigrant in a land of unfamiliar faces. I had no idea what to say, how to say it, when to say it. I was always the odd one out, always alone. My view of the world was a dark one; I thought that life was unfair and unkind and things would never be beautiful for me. All of that changed when I read Kira-Kira. I hung onto every word Lynn said, marveling at how similar our circumstances were yet how much our attitudes differed. Lynn and Katie inspired me to face the world with a smile; they taught me that beauty comes in the most dark places and in the most unexpected ways. The philosophy of kira-kira, of the shimmering wonderland that is our world, has kept me going in times that could’ve broken my spirit. I didn’t really have a single favorite part in the novel; the entire book was peppered with moments that took my breath away. I loved it when Katie stood up to Lynn’s prejudiced friends and put them in their place. It empowered me to stand up for myself and others that I care about. I also loved the ending. I had thought that Katie would forget everything Lynn told her about the world, and she would once again be reduced to the heartbroken and cynical child she once was. However, Katie remembered the things Lynn had told her when her family went to California. She saw how lovely the world was, even through her own saddened eyes. She appreciated the beauty and kira-kira in every facet of the world. She inspired me to do the same. I hope she inspires you too. Abhirupa Dasgupta, 13Plano, Texas