Holbrook, Sara. The Enemy.

Holbrook, Sara. The Enemy. Calkins Creek  2017  256p     $17.95    ISBN 978-1-62979-498-3    ms/hs  Historical Fiction  E-BN      

It is 1953, and Marjorie is a 12-year-old girl living in Detroit with her father, a shell-shocked veteran of World War Two, her college-educated mother, her little sister, and Frank, a teenager who lost his father in the war. At school, she experiences air-raid drills, hears talk about the Cold War, and learns from her girlfriends that all Germans are Nazis and that girls cannot become doctors. The era of the 50s is invoked on every page, and I found only two anachronisms: toward the end of the book, one girl says to another “It isn’t about you,” which nobody said back in the 1950s. The other anachronism is Marjorie’s mother telling her daughter “Breathe”. Nobody said that back in the 1950s either.

However, in general, the era is very faithfully portrayed, and the fear of the times is strongly invoked: fear of Communism, the Bomb, subversive literature, and independent thought.

Marjorie is a believable protagonist, as are the other characters. They are all flawed human beings, but in most cases they are doing their best to move on after the trauma of the war to make better lives for themselves. The author has extensive notes at the end of the book, describing her own childhood in Detroit and discussing her inspiration for the story.

This is a great realistic and historical novel for those readers who enjoy the genre.  Recommended for middle- and high-school collections.    

Summary: In this novel, which takes place in the early 1950s, Marjorie lives in Detroit with her family and struggles to make up her mind about all the things she sees around her ... censorship, McCarthyism, and xenophobia in the wake of the second world war.

Cold War-Fiction                                                                                            --Carol Kennedy

Mobley, Jeannie. Bobby Lee and the Criminal Element.

Mobley, Jeannie. Bobby Lee and the Criminal Element. Holiday House 2017 228p  $16.95  ISBN 978-0-8234-3781-8  elem/ms  Historical Fiction  E-BN         

When Bobbie Lee becomes an orphan at age 13 in 1929, he decides that his future lies as a criminal working for a famous Chicago gang. His pickpocketing skills should allow him to be useful to mob leaders. He boards a steam-powered train and finds himself investigating a murder that happened in New Orleans, his hometown. Also traveling on the train are three men and a widow with her baby, all potential suspects in the widow’s husband’s death. Details on train travel in the early 20th century flow smoothly into the story, as do descriptions of the changing countryside between Louisiana and Chicago. Also incorporated into this historical novel are facts about Jim Crow laws and Prohibition and how these institutions affected daily life. A compelling mystery drives the story, which has an authentic feel and maintains consistent tension and danger within a framework of soulful contemplation about whether Bobbie Lee is suited to be a criminal or not. Believable supporting characters and some humorous moments as well as historical facts make this a perfect historical novel. A great book to accompany social studies units on race relations in the 1920s and the effects of the Jim Crow laws. An addendum explains the inspiration for the story as well as historical facts about race relations, jazz, and railroad life in the 1920s. Strongly recommended as an adjunct to teaching about Prohibition or Jim Crow laws and their impact on people.  

Summary: Bobbie Lee, 13 years old, decides to travel to Chicago to become a criminal in a famous gang. His trip via railroad from New Orleans to Chicago is packed with action and mystery. The novel refers to the Jim Crow Laws and to facts about steam railroads. Grades 4-8.

Mystery-Fiction, Prohibition, Jim Crow-Fiction     --Lois McNicol

Paterson, Katherine. My Brigadista Year.

Paterson, Katherine. My Brigadista Year. Candlewick Press  2017    198p $15.99  ISBN 978-0-7636-9508-8  ms  Historical Fiction  E-BN      

In this excellent novel, Paterson follows a year in the life of Lora, a young Cuban girl who joins a literacy brigade shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1960 and experiences the Bay of Pigs invasion and its subsequent defeat by the Cubans. It is exciting and insightful, exposing American youngsters to a point of view and story they are unlikely to encounter elsewhere.

Shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1960, brigades of young, literate students from Havana were enlisted to go out into the countryside and teach the rural population how to read and write. Lora is excited by this opportunity, but she has to butt heads with her parents, who are fearful for her safety, and it is only when her grandmother intervenes that she is allowed to go. The year that follows is one of adventure, excitement and learning for Lora, and when she looks back on it from the vantage point of adulthood, she realizes that it changed her life in many important ways.

A chronology and end notes by Katherine Paterson are invaluable in teaching American kids what happened historically in this tiny nation 90 miles from our shores.   

Recommended for grades 6-8 and beyond.  

Summary: In this excellent novel, Paterson follows a year in the life of a young Cuban girl who joins a literacy brigade shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1960 and experiences the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Cuba-Fiction                                       --Carol Kennedy

Avi. The Player King.

Avi.     The Player King.  Simon & Schuster/Atheneum      2017   199p.  $16.99  ISBN 978-1-5344-0324-6  ms/jr  Historical Fiction            VG-BN         

Lambert Simnel works as a kitchen boy in Tackley’s Tavern when he is approached by a friar who inquires about his true identity. The friar and the Earl of Lincoln convince the boy that he is Edward, the Earl of Warwick, the true heir to the English throne, as opposed to King Henry VII who thinks he is the proper heir. Edward was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but is said to have escaped, and his whereabouts are unknown. Lambert is apprehensive at first, but is soon caught up in the idea of being a king. He doesn’t know where he is from, thinks he is probably orphaned, but he is sure he isn’t really the Earl of Warwick. He knows Lincoln is just using him to get closer to the throne himself because the public will rally behind the boy to raise an army. Lambert realizes the game he is playing is dangerous, but he begins to believe the mantra “if you act like a king, you will be king”. The army is raised, but King Henry prevails. He takes mercy on the boy and puts him to work in his palace kitchen.

This story is based on true events. Early on, the friar makes sure the boy understands how dangerous their actions are and explains the potential consequences to him, including drawing and quartering. It is difficult to imagine that a book written for middle-school students would have the main character facing this fate, and there is a great deal of suspense centering on how Lambert is going to survive. It is easy to see how he gets caught up in the excitement of going from kitchen boy to the King of England. He is also young enough that he doesn’t think through his actions fully and is bothered by the prospect of soldiers and others dying for his rouse. This engaging and fast-paced novel will entice middle-school readers.

Summary: The Earl of Lincoln and a friar convince a young kitchen boy he is Prince Edward, the true heir to the English throne, in a plot to overthrow King Henry VII. Based on a true story.                                 

England-History-Fiction, Henry VII-Fiction

                                                                                                --Stephanie Pennucci

Gratz, Alan. Refugee.

Gratz, Alan. Refugee.   Scholastic Press      2017   338p.  $16.99        ISBN 978-0-545-88083-1          ms/jr   Historical Fiction             VG-BN         

Isabel (Cuban), Mahmoud (Syrian) and Josef (Jewish) tell the stories of their families’ harrowing escapes from a dictator, a civil war, and Nazi Germany.  Each child is deeply torn by the adult decisions forced on them, the dangers of the journey and the devastating loss felt by all three.         Three perspectives, each depicting an escape from a real-life political quagmire, combine to tell the story of children who suffer untold horrors as they navigate their journeys to a new life.  Author Alan Gratz weaves the three perspectives together, always ending a chapter with a transition that keeps the reader guessing what might happen when, three chapters later, the story continues.  Josef and his family are the first refugees, German Jews who escape Nazi Germany, but not before Father experiences the horrors of Dachau.  When the family embarks on a lifesaving journey to Cuba, it continues to experience the same prejudice that almost destroyed the family back in Germany.  Move forward to the second perspective, to Cuba circa 1994 when Cubans attempted to come to mainland U. S. in boats, rafts or any device that permitted them to escape Castro’s regime, which was characterized by a lack of simple necessities to survive.  Isabel tells this story, and it is as tragic as Josef’s, with loss, emotional turmoil and obstacles too numerous to mention.  The final perspective is that of a young Syrian, Mahmoud, who escapes Syria with his family only to find country after country that will not accept Syrians. 

The strength in Gratz’s story is that these children tell real stories, all based on factual accounts that he includes at the end of the book.  Empathetic readers will come out of this reading having experienced the devastating emotions felt by the families involved in the escapes.  Gratz uses conflict at every turn of the page, which might be a bit much for the reader who finds too much action and not enough time to recuperate, take a breath and think about what transpired.  When Josef’s mother has to choose which of her children will go to the concentration camp (a Sophie’s Choice kind of decision), a younger reader could struggle to fully comprehend the impact of that action taken by the Nazis to psychologically torture a fellow human being.   However, many older teen readers will find the action-packed, often violent, dangerous and traumatic situations to be enticing, and they will quickly become engrossed in what happens next to each of the three protagonists.  Young teens will, by and large, appreciate the way Gratz ties the three families together in the end.  The commonalities shared by the three protagonists are strong: each child suffers loss; each child watches a parent’s near demise during the journey; each child is empowered to help the family reach its destination; each child faces incredible obstacles, and so much more.  Gratz is an accomplished storyteller who knows how to write characterizations and plot that appeal to his targeted age group. 

Summary: Isabel (Cuban), Mahmoud (Syrian) and Josef (Jewish) tell the stories of their families’ harrowing escapes from a dictator, a civil war, and Nazi Germany.  Each child is deeply torn by the adult decisions forced on them, the dangers of the journey and the devastating loss felt by all three. 

Cuban, Syrian, Jewish refugees-Fiction             --Martha Squaresky