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Matas, Carol
5 Reviews
(4)
4-6
In 1910, Rebecca Bernstein must move to Winnipeg when her family's Saskatchewan farm burns to the ground. Lacking money, the Bernsteins, who are Jewish, send Rebecca into foster care with the Kostaniuks, a Ukrainian Christian family. Despite the hatred that exists between Jews and Ukrainians, Rebecca resolves to befriend Sophie, the Kostaniuk daughter. Though a bit predictable, Rebecca's triumph is satisfying.
Reviewer: Mary R. Holt
(3)
YA
The Green family is forced to flee their home when General Ulysses S. Grant orders all Jews to evacuate the territory under his command, leading thirteen-year-old Hannah to examine her fervent commitment to the Southern way of life. The book is action-packed and full of period detail.
Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn
(4)
4-6
The fourth installment in the cerebral fantasy series about Princess Lenora and Prince Coren drops the hapless pair into the worst possible world their friend Sayley can imagine: Winnipeg. The two brave a shopping mall, disrupt a convention of Lenora and Coren impersonators, and confront their authors in a sporadically funny and provocative self-referential narrative that ultimately gets too carried away with its own cleverness.
Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann
(2)
YA
Matas pays tribute to the righteous citizens of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in Vichy, France, who risked their lives to save the many Jews who took refuge there during the Nazi occupation. Anna's voice is distinct, and the fictional account of these wartime saviors of teenage Anna Hirsch and her friends never dissolves into the romanticism of heroes and victims.
Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.
(4)
4-6
The impending marriage of Prince Coren and Princess Lenora is waylaid by a troubling shift in the Balance, which causes the Andillans (Coren's people) to lose their powers of imagination. This witty but convoluted commentary on, among other things, the perils of living too far inside one's mind will make most sense to those who have read the two preceding books in the series.
Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann
5 reviews
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