A Face for Picasso by Ariel Henley and Seen and Unseen by Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki

 

Last week and over the weekend, I read A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome by Ariel Henley and Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration by Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki. The first book I read, A Face for Picasso, is a memoir about a girl, Ariel, and her twin sister, Zan, who were diagnosed with a rare condition called Crouzon syndrome when they were just eight months old. Throughout their childhood, Ariel and Zan went through various medical procedures alter their appearance and had to navigate life with a facial disfigurement. Although they did make friends, Ariel and Zan faced classmates who bullied and made fun of them. They also experienced a great deal of pain during surgery and recovery. Although living up to impossible beauty standards was especially difficult for them and took an emotional toll on them, Ariel and Zan demonstrated resilience and forged their own paths.

This book was such a compelling memoir to read. I had never heard of Crouzon syndrome before, so I definitely learned a lot about the condition itself while reading, but what had the most impact on me was Ariel's journey toward self-acceptance. Ariel and Zan had an incredibly challenging childhood, and it was understandable that they grew up with a lot of anger, sadness, and pain. Ariel especially had a lot of self-loathing after she found an article in Marie Claire that mentioned their faces were similar to Picasso's work, and I felt bad for her. Just that one line had a huge impact on Ariel and I wondered a little bit how her life would have been different if she had never come across that article from earlier in her life. I thought it was really awesome, though, how Ariel started a mentorship program called Girl Talk for middle school girls during the second half of her high school experience and decided to go to college away from home to become a writer. I definitely felt a sense a relief when Ariel and Zan decided that they were done with surgery, too. From that moment, I thought they could finally begin the process of emotional healing. A Face for Picasso is a profound exploration of beauty and identity and all girls and women should read it.

Then, I read Seen and Unseen, which is a nonfiction picture book that combines illustrations, photographs, and primary sources to tell the story of Japanese and Japanese Americans at Manzanar, an incarceration camp in the California desert during World War II. After the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawai'i on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered all Japanese and Japanese Americans living on the West Coast to be forcibly relocated to incarceration camps. The conditions at these camps were inhumane and the Japanese and Japanese American faced uncertain futures. During the incarceration, three photographers, Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams captured life at Manzanar. Through photography, they showed the reality of the incarceration camps.

Ever since I read George Takei's graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy, two years ago, I've been interested in learning more about the Japanese American incarceration during World War II, and Seen and Unseen is an excellent addition to the children's literature on the topic. I absolutely loved the combination of photographs and Tamaki's illustrations. I even wanted to look for more photographs that Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams took on the Internet afterwards. I'm especially haunted by the image of Torazo Sakawye and his grandson because Torazo died in the Manzanar incarceration camp only ten months later. I also enjoyed the inclusion of primary sources whether they were documents or quotes. The backmatter provided biographies of the three photographers and great information about the history and injustice of what happened. I liked learning the author's and the illustrator's inspiration behind creating the book, too, because they both had connections to people who experienced this event in U.S. history: Partridge's godmother was Dorothea Lange and Tamaki's grandparents were incarcerated in Canada. All in all, Seen and Unseen is a remarkable choice for anyone who is interested in World War II-era history, including those who prefer nonfiction with minimal text.

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

 

Last week, I read The Stolen Heir by Holly Black. This fantasy novel, taking place in the Elfhame universe, is about the child queen of the Court of Teeth, Suren. Eight years after the events of the Battle of the Serpent, Lady Nore has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. Suren, or Wren as her human family called her, is the only person who has power over her mother. After Wren helps a human man get out of an agreement with a glaistig, she is chased by the storm hag who helped raise her, Bogdana. Just in time, Wren is saved by Prince Oak, the heir to Elfhame. Oak is on a quest north with his guard, Tiernan, and wants Wren's aid. Although Wren believes she can't trust Oak and it means confronting the horrors of her past, she agrees to go with them. As they journey first to the Court of Moths for information and then to the Court of Teeth, Wren and Oak become closer, but there is a secret about Wren's past that could destroy their fragile relationship and change everything.

I am absolutely reeling from the end of this book. Although I thought it started out a bit slow at first, it definitely built in excitement and I didn't want to stop reading about halfway through. It was interesting to learn about Wren's past and I loved how her attraction to Oak grew despite her better judgement. While I had my suspicions about the plot twist at the end, I didn't really want to be right, so the big reveal was shocking and I can't exactly say I like how Wren handled the news. It made me see her in a less sympathetic light because she reminded me way too much of her parents, Lady Nore and Lord Jarel. I hope when she's had some time to calm down and reflect that she'll realize that she overreacted. I can't say too much more without spoiling, but I can't wait for the sequel, The Prisoner's Throne, which will be released next year. Overall, The Stolen Heir was amazing and all fantasy fans should read it.

Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II by Lia Levi

 

Yesterday, I finished reading Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II by Lia Levi. This illustrated memoir, which was translated from Italian into English, is about a Jewish girl who grew up in Italy during World War II. As a six-year-old in 1938, Lia loved going to the beach for vacation in the summer, but when the prime minister, Mussolini, begins working with Hitler, her dad loses his job and her family moves from city to city before settling in Rome. As the war comes dangerously closer,  Lia and her sisters are sent to live in a convent on the edge of Rome where they use a false last name and go to boarding school. As she and her family face discrimination and the challenges of living in a country at war, Lia wonders if she will be able to just be a girl again.

This book was wonderful to read because I saw a different perspective from World War II than I've gotten in other books I've read. It was interesting to learn how the challenges Italian Jews faced were both similar and different from those in other parts of Europe. Although it was still dangerous in Rome, Lia, her sisters, and eventually her mother were able to find sanctuary in a convent among nuns. It was initially believed that being so close to the pope offered the Jews living in Rome some protection because the pope would do something if he saw the atrocities with his own eyes. I hadn't known that. Although the Germans did eventually come to Rome to take Jews from the Jewish quarter, it took a while and Lia's parents were fortunate that they got a warning in time so they were able to escape and hide. I also really enjoyed Lia's voice in telling the story of her childhood. Although she faced challenges, I could imagine how these things were happening through the eyes of a child. There was innocence and hope. The illustrations throughout the book and the letter Lia wrote at the end were beautiful, and I also loved seeing photographs of her and her family. I would recommend Just a Girl to anyone who enjoys reading about the experiences of children during wartime.

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

 

Yesterday, I finished reading Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon. In this horror novel, Justin and his friends, Nia and Lyric, are invited to a party at their other friend Zee's house soon after he returned from being mysteriously gone for a year. At the party, Justin, Nia, and Lyric, along with three other kids from the neighborhood, decide to play a game of Hide and Seek while waiting for Zee to come outside. As Justin finds the others, they all start breaking the rules that they agreed upon before playing the game. Then, Zee comes outside and tries to warn them of the danger they're in even though they think something is wrong with him. When they begin disappearing one by one, they realize that Zee was right and the same thing is happening to them that happened to him the previous year. Marked by the Seeker, a shadowy monster whose game is a terrifying version of Hide and Seek, Justin and his friends are pulled into its realm of Nowhere where they have to face their fears by playing the game to escape and go back home.

This book was excellent, and I enjoyed it so much. From the beginning, I was drawn in by the mystery of Zee's disappearance and wanted to understand what exactly happened to him in the time that he was gone. When the kids that played Hide and Seek with Justin started disappearing, I was truly worried because it didn't seem like the police were taking the situation as seriously as they should. It didn't surprise me that Justin, Nia, Lyric, and Quincy began doing their own investigating, and I'm glad that they did because they learned that they could bring things, like a backpack full of supplies, into Nowhere before they were all gone. The time that Justin and his friends spent in Nowhere was both horrifying and suspenseful, but it was interesting to learn what each of them feared the most. I also like how they befriended two other kids, Duke and Mary, in Nowhere. I was certainly on the edge of my seat during the kids' final confrontation with the Seeker. There was even a moment when I was anxious that one of the kids would betray them all. The ending was perfect, though, even if it left a few loose threads for future books. All in all, Hide and Seeker is an awesome choice for anyone who likes scary stories.