(2) YA In this novel in verse set in 1989, sixteen-year-old Helena lives in Leipzig, East Germany, during a period of oppression when citizens inform on their neighbors. But times are changing, and peaceful protests against the government are gaining momentum. Helena finds solace in music and begins to fall in love with a fellow piano student, but she's pressured to spy on him and reluctantly reveals his plans to escape. As weekly peace prayers at the Saint Nicholas Church turn into a massive march, Helena chooses to confront her betrayal and her fears, and act: "There comes a time / when every voice / must cry out, a time // when every person must lean / into their fear, spread their wings / and rise up. // That time / is now." Green conveys Helena's anxieties and hopes in equal measure in lyrical free-verse passages that flow together like a musical composition. She balances discussion of the political upheaval of the time just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall with a sensitive exploration of Helena's personal struggles and emotional growth. An author's note with historical background, a glossary, and selected sources are appended.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) YA Fleeing Fidel Castro's Cuba in 1960, Victoria's family is sure they will be in Miami for only a few weeks--a few months, max--until the United States helps topple Castro's regime. Still, soon-to-be-thirteen-year-old Victoria is devastated to leave her home country and her "prima hermana," Jackie, behind. Diaz alternates focus between the cousins to describe this fraught moment in history. For Victoria, life in America is not easy, and she has to take on adult responsibilities to help feed her family. When communication with Cuba is almost completely cut, Jackie fears that Victoria has forgotten her. Jackie is eventually sent to live in Miami through Operation Peter Pan, and the girls struggle to deal with the challenges of their new reality--which, it increasingly becomes clear, will be permanent--as well as navigating the social landscape of junior high. Using personal interactions among Victoria, Jackie, and their new peers, Diaz does not shy away from addressing intertwined issues of the time period, including school integration, Cold War anti-Russian prejudice, and racial and gender dynamics within the family. The book's ending, if somewhat farfetched, allows for a happy, hopeful reunion in Miami with Jackie's parents and baby brother and the girls' grandmother. An author's note and extensive Spanish glossary are appended. Spanish-language edition, Hasta siempre Cuba, mi isla, forthcoming (12/23)

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) 4-6 Marsh's affecting historical novel, inspired by her own family's story, describes the social and political backdrop of the Holodomor, a famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s and was covered up by the Soviets (Ukraine was a republic of the USSR at the time). It opens by introducing Matthew, a present-day, screen-obsessed thirteen-year-old living in New Jersey, "basically under house arrest" during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been asked to help Nadiya, his hundred-year-old great-grandmother, to sort through her belongings; in so doing he starts to piece together the Lomachenko family story. Matthew's chapters alternate with those of Mila, a Young Pioneer living in 1930s Kyiv under the watchful eye of her doting widowed father (and Papa Stalin), and of Nadiya's cousin Helen in Depression-era Brooklyn. The harsh realities of the Stalin regime--where citizens could be declared "class enemies," evicted from their homes, and sent to labor colonies for any perceived anti-Party infraction--come to light. The horrors of state-sanctioned starvation and the desperation of would-be refugees are palpable and disturbing to read, but they are made palatable because the experiences are filtered through the viewpoints and sensibilities of young people caught up in the disaster. The multiple voices come together to bear witness and remind us that history is a collection of stories, "and it matters enormously who gets to tell them." A compelling and timely look at the historically complex and fraught relationship between Ukraine and Russia.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) YA In this page-turning drama, two teens from different backgrounds forge a brief romantic connection amid the tumultuous 2019 Hong Kong anti-government protests. Phoenix Lam, sixteen, comes from a wealthy shipping family. Zhang Kai En, seventeen, an amateur painter who has been living in Shanghai, returns to Hong Kong after his mother's death to reunite with his estranged father and enroll in the police academy. The two protagonists meet by chance at a restaurant and connect after they accidentally swap cellphones. Apolitical Phoenix follows her brother into protesting. Kai joins their student group while secretly undermining their efforts. Tension builds as the teens grow closer, peaceful protests turn deadly, and Kai's betrayal is discovered. The novel succeeds in using the lens of young love in an undercover thriller to capture a significant historical moment. Song does a strong job with her vivid descriptions of the cosmopolitan city in peaceful moments and in realistic, chaotic protest scenes, including examples of police and protester violence. She also manages the difficult balancing act of exploring various characters' viewpoints on the China/Hong Kong political situation with nuance, whether they see the pro-democracy protests as necessary, destructive, or futile. In her author's note, Song emphasizes that her novel is "not representative of the entire Hong Kong population...there is a vast range of perspectives." A short list of recommended nonfiction books and documentaries is also appended.

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Susanna Chapman. This reverent picture-book biography of the art-world pair (focused mainly on Christo) begins with a formative moment in the young man's life. While Nazis search his Bulgarian town for Russian propaganda, Christo's family burns his beloved Russian art books. Nazism is followed by Communism, under which Christo can create only state-sanctioned art; and Boxer draws a through line betweeen political repression and Christo's eventual conception of his and Jeanne-Claude's artwork as "a scream of freedom." Christo later meets and falls in love with Jeanne-Claude in France; the couple moves to New York, where they begin to execute their large-scale art projects, wrapping buildings, coastlines, and islands, and scattering umbrellas across California and Japan. In 2005, they realize their dream of constructing The Gates: twenty-three miles of saffron-curtained archways winding through Central Park. Chapman's loose, diaphanous illustrations capture the whimsy and exuberance of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's art. Figures peek through the luminous layers of watercolor as if wrapped in sheer curtains, and abstract designs depict times of emotional turmoil and triumph. Author and artist notes offer more biographical details and invite readers to contemplate the meaning behind the art installations, and a list of recommended sources encourages further exploration of this idiosyncratic pair.

Reviewer: K Rachael Stein | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) YA This historical-fiction thriller creatively imagines how events might have played out had Anastasia Romanov actually survived the massacre of her royal family. After stumbling out of the woods into a village, Anna offers a jewel sewn into her corset to Evgenia, a poor peasant girl, if Evgenia will help her get to safety. It's a deal that reluctant Evgenia cannot afford to turn down, but it will take lots of luck and skill to maneuver between the communist Red Army, the tsarist White Army, and the stranded Czechoslovak Legion. Anna and Evgenia eventually develop a strong bond of friendship, one that helps them arrive at a sense of healthy disillusionment as they grow to see the flaws of both the monarchy and the Bolsheviks. Their friendship is tested when Anna's true identity comes to light just as the plot climaxes with a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse against the sadistic officer of the Red Army's secret police, a man hell-bent on tracking Anastasia down and completing the execution he had started. In her debut novel, O'Neil proves herself to be a capable storyteller with excellent command of her complex tale and its setting. An author's note provides historical background; a bibliography and pronunciation guide are also appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) YA Cristian has grown up under the dictatorship of Ceauşescu in Communist Romania. Now it's October 1989, and he's conditioned to life in his family's cramped apartment; to queuing for meagre, awful food; and to whispering indoors to avoid the surveillance of the brutal secret police, the Securitate. Then a Securitate agent blackmails him into becoming an informant. The agent has the power to destroy his future and family, so what can Cristian do? At the cost of trust, friendship, and romance, he must play along--at least until he joins the thousands of Romanians who rise up to overthrow Ceauşescu and the Securitate. Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray, rev. 5/11; The Fountains of Silence, rev. 9/19) paints a nuanced picture of the effects of the deprivation, anxiety, and fear created and upheld by Ceauşescu's tyrannical rule. In quick, economical language, she provides historical detail and shows readers a context in which one contraband can of Coke can result in a police report, but also one in which the courage and solidarity of youth can change a country's oppressive regime. Back matter includes photos, an author's note with historical background, and a note on research and sources.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(1) YA An engrossing look at the emerging new world order after World War II, told through the experiences of one fractured German family living in 1961 Berlin. Stamper begins with a flashback to 1945, with teenage couple Rudolf and Ilse, numb from the soul-crushing brutality of war, learning they are expecting twins. Anxious about their future in the newly partitioned country, they settle in the Soviet sector and scramble to support their family. Their fraternal twin boys grow up in the fledgling Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic, which touts itself as pro-worker and anti-fascist. Rudi is dutiful and well behaved, with the inquisitive eye of a photographer and a tendency to brood; Peter is the golden boy--smart, talented, a committed optimist--who longs to be an actor. Things come to a head in the summer of 1961 when their parents suddenly split up and the fifteen-year-olds find themselves living in different sectors and reassessing everything they've been taught to believe. The overnight erection of a wall around the entire Western part of the city halts the ability of citizens to move freely throughout the area. Stamper (What the Night Sings, rev. 5/18) explains the complex geopolitical and ideological landscapes in a teen-friendly manner and helps readers gain perspective via the boys' alternating chapters as they come of age and gain individual agency. Vivid descriptions bring the city to life and are enhanced by the author's haunting, multilayered grayscale paintings. There are powerful messages here about postwar trauma and the generational consequences of burying the past. An excellent, nuanced piece of historical fiction.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Cumba Fernandez carries an unlucky double-nine domino, la caja de muertos, or the "dead man's box," in his pocket as a reminder that "there are worse sources of bad luck than a little white tile." It's April 1961 in Santa Clara, Cuba, and the Cuban exiles fighting to overthrow Fidel Castro have failed in their mission, leaving families like Cumba's who sided with the former president Batista vulnerable to incarceration and violent subjugation. In order to avoid the threat of ­mandatory military training in Russia, Cumba's parents decide to send him to the United States. Cuevas's (The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez) skillful first-person present-tense narrative follows Cumba's experience of separation from his loved ones; his adjustment to life in Miami as a refugee; and ultimately his reunion with his family in the United States. Cuevas furthers this insider perspective with letters between Cumba and his little brother, Pepito. Incorporating elements from her father's experiences as a Cuban exile and child refugee, the author tells a larger, complicated story about the ways children navigate the geopolitical forces that compel families to make hard choices to ensure their survival.

Reviewer: Lettycia Terrones | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) YA Engle (Enchanted Air, rev. 7/15; Soaring Earth, rev. 3/19) once again revisits her Cuban heritage and demonstrates an abiding appreciation of nature in this historical verse novel set during the "Período especial," the euphemistically named "special period in times of peace." In 1991, Cuba is hosting the Pan American Games and putting on a prosperous face for the rest of the world, but the Cuban people are starving, due to U.S. trade embargoes and the abrupt halt in aid and food imports from Communist allies after the Soviet Union's collapse. Two teenagers who have resisted joining the "voluntary" summer labor programs are brought together by a scruffy stray dog as they scavenge for seaweed, shorebird eggs, and any fruit, fish, or fowl they can find, hunt, or steal to ease their relentless hunger. At its heart, this is a tender love story, lyrically presented in alternating poetic voices (including broader observations in third-person poems from the dog's perspective), but it is also a coming-of-age narrative for the impressionable protagonists, exploring duty to country and family, the consequences of living with hunger and fear, and the costs of individual freedom and ambition. A deeply felt and engrossing look at a time when the grandparents lived "on a menu of memories" while the new generation survived "on nothing / but wishes."

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) YA High school senior Lily Hu lives in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1954 with her medical professional parents; she behaves obediently and dreams of working at the Jet Propulsion Lab like her aunt Judy. But she hides a secret yearning. After seeing an ad featuring "Tommy Andrews Male Impersonator," she sneaks out to the performance at the lesbian Telegraph Club with Kath, a white classmate who shares Lily's longing. Soon the two are club regulars, even though Lily's parents have warned her they are being watched (after her father's citizenship papers were confiscated by the FBI) and could be deported. When an incident at the Telegraph threatens to uncover Lily's lesbian identity to her family, she is forced to make a difficult choice. This standout work of historical fiction combines meticulous research with tender romance to create a riveting bildungsroman. San Francisco, "with its steep stairways and sudden glimpses of the bay between tall, narrow buildings," is almost a character itself. Interspersed flashbacks that detail the personal histories of Lily's parents and Aunt Judy and timelines of world events further put the 1950s Chinese American experience into context for readers. Lo's (Ash, rev. 11/09; A Line in the Dark, rev. 11/17) comprehensive author's note includes an absorbing section on "Lesbians, Gender, and Community" and a select bibliography of print and film resources.

Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) YA Sheinkin returns to the milieu of his award-winning Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (rev. 11/12) for this equally compelling sequel. In the aftermath of World War II, the United States and Russia emerge as global superpowers, each vying for ideological, technological, and territorial dominance. Cold War tensions eventually climax with the Cuban ­Missile Crisis, bringing the rivals perilously close to nuclear war. Castro, Eisenhower, ­Kennedy, and Khrushchev play significant roles in shaping world events leading up to it: the partitioning of Germany, the Berlin Wall, and the metaphorical Iron Curtain; the development of the hydrogen bomb and the subsequent arms race; the equally competitive space race; and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. But Sheinkin also introduces a colorful parade of lesser-known characters who step forward for their fifteen minutes of fame--scientists and spies; U-2 pilots and submarine captains; secretaries, cyclists, and mobsters. Deftly weaving these anecdotes into the larger tapestry of history and politics, Sheinkin crafts an epic narrative with a large cast of characters, far-flung settings, multiple plot strands, and rising suspense, further evidence that one of our best nonfiction writers is also one of our best ­storytellers. Black-and-white photographs are ­strategically placed at the beginning and end of chapters, while generous source notes, a bibliography, and an index are appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by ShanZuo Zhou & DaHuang Zhou. Alznauer (The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, rev. 3/20) has written an impressionistic picture-book biography illustrated by the book's subjects, contemporary painters the Zhou brothers. Born just after the onset of the People's Republic of China, the brothers (then known as Shaoli and Shaoning) learned at an early age that "the world is a beautiful and terrible place." Their parents were detained by the government, and their beloved grandmother, Po Po, closed the family bookstore after multiple raids and book burnings. Battling adversity, from poverty to art-school rejection to their own contentious working relationship, the brothers sought inspiration from ancient Huashan cliff paintings. Creatively renewed, they continued to work together on the same canvases and eventually gained recognition for their expressive art. Relocating to Chicago, the brothers still continue to produce art and (per the appended author's note) "share their story to give other artists, even very young artists, the courage to struggle through their own mix of love and trouble until a new magic is born." Alznauer's engaging text moves briskly, focusing primarily on the brothers' relationship (if providing little context for the Cultural Revolution). Readers will be captivated by the book's artful design and vivid ink and watercolor illustrations that seamlessly move between intimate family portraits and expansive, expressionistic double-page landscapes. A unique biography that conveys the scope and importance of the subjects' work through original illustrations by the artists themselves.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. The titular dwelling was the weekend home of Harding's great-grandparents in Germany, built by his great-grandfather nearly a century ago. Readers experience the peace and idyll of the place, inhabited by "a kind doctor and his cheery wife" and their four children; several spreads of lyrical text and serene illustrations depict a warm-hearted, carefree, sun-dappled setting. It's not long, however, before the Nazis descend, forcing the family from their home. A new family arrives, "carrying suitcases and musical instruments and love," but the war soon means that they, too, must leave rather than fight for the Nazis. The house is once again empty--then it's temporarily used as a shelter for those fleeing persecution; then it's witness to the Berlin Wall's rise and fall (and inhabited by a man who informed on his neighbors); then it falls into disrepair. And then the author arrives and fixes it up "until it shone like new...Once again the house by the lake was happy." An appended author's note very helpfully fills in the blanks of the occasionally vague main text. We learn more about the real people who moved in and out of the dwelling (it is here that we learn Harding's family was Jewish; and more about that spying inhabitant), and find out that it now serves as a "center for education and reconciliation." Teckentrup's evocative textured and layered mixed-media illustrations beautifully reflect the bucolic setting in times of both familial repose and, chillingly, unthinkable evil.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) 4-6 Communists have recently taken power in post-WWII 1948 Czechoslovakia, and narrator Anna's father, an outspoken critic of the new regime and an active member of the pre-war democratic government, has left the country for his safety. Eleven-year-old Anna, her older sister Ruzena, and their mother flee their village of Roven. They travel through Prague and navigate the no-man's land along the German border, finally arriving in Regensburg, Austria, to find the girls' father and start a new life. Kiely's gripping novel, based on her mother's life story, features a steady voice, strong pacing, and rich historical details. Anna's journey takes place over just a few days, and her first-person narration pulls readers along through the tumult and intensity of emotions and events. The relationship between the sisters is particularly effective. Ruzena lords her experience and knowledge over her little sister but is herself feeling the pain of leaving home; over the course of the journey, Anna sees her sister more clearly and resents her less. Kiely skillfully provides the cultural details and historical context to help readers become fully immersed in the story, creating a strong sense of time and place ("Remember when the war was finally over and the Nazis were gone and the Russian soldiers drove their trucks and tanks down the main street?...I thought they were good guys").

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(3) YA Fourteen authors representing a range of races and ethnicities reflect on this tumultuous year's historic events, including the assassinations of Dr. King and Robert Kennedy, anti–Vietnam War demonstrations, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, etc. The contributors incorporate personal memories, interviews, archival material, and scholarship when presenting their stories chronologically. An excellent, timely contribution considering today's political and cultural upheaval.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) YA This detailed and devastating account of the House Un-American Activities Committee and "The Hollywood Ten" explores the HUAC's attack on First Amendment rights. This proved to be a precursor to the rise of McCarthyism in the 1950s, which destroyed the lives of many innocent Americans. Brimner effectively utilizes transcripts from the hearings, archival photos, and secondary sources to document the events. An author's note makes the connection between "then and now." Websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 In a short and poignant narrative, Ho tells how, at age four, she was left behind in Vietnam while her family fled to Canada in 1981. Decidedly anti-communist, the tale is filled with details about school, hard work, hunger, and the sorrow Ho felt until being reunited with her family when she was eight. Appended are family photos, a coauthor's note, and interviews with Ho and her parents.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) K-3 Translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. Illustrated by Yara Kono. In association with Amnesty International. A family searching for political and educational freedom instead finds itself in a society limited by conformity; but the mother takes boring, solid-color sweaters--offered only in green, orange, and gray--and makes fantastically patterned sweaters, inspiring others. Based on a family from dictator-led Portugal exiled in Communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, the allegorical picture book features graphically strong three-color illustrations.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA In 1953 Washington, DC, thirteen-year-old Richard is torn between the worldviews of his FBI-agent father and his new friend Vlad, a Czech immigrant with thrillingly bold ideas about literature, art, and politics. Influenced by the McCarthy hearings, Richard starts to question the veracity of those closest to him. Photographs and news summaries from the era add authenticity to this tale of would-be intrigue. Author's note appended.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello