Tag: historical
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Book Review: The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree
by Lucille Abendanon publisher’s synopsis Batavia, Dutch East Indies, 1942. Emmy has the voice of an angel but hasn’t sung a note since a family tragedy. With war looming, her father plans to ship her off to a singing school in England for safety. But all Emmy wants to do is stay in Batavia with…
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Book Review: A Place to Hang the Moon
by Kate Albus publisher’s synopsis It is 1940 and William, 12, Edmund, 11, and Anna, 9, aren’t terribly upset by the death of the not-so-grandmotherly grandmother who has taken care of them since their parents died. But the children do need a guardian, and in the dark days of World War II London, those are…
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Book Review: I Must Betray You
by Ruta Sepetys publisher’s synopsis Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force. Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police…
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Book Review: The Lost Melody
by Joanna Davidson Politano publisher’s synopsis When concert pianist Vivienne Mourdant’s father dies, he leaves to her the care of an adult ward she knew nothing about. The woman is supposedly a patient at Hurstwell Asylum. The woman’s portrait is shockingly familiar to Vivienne, so when the asylum claims she was never a patient there,…
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Book Review: The Fountains of Silence
by Ruta Sepetys publisher’s synopsis A portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship. Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, the…
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Book Review: The Inkwell Chronicles
by J. D. Peabody publisher’s synopsis Immerse yourself in this fast-paced middle-grade fantasy about magic ink, a secret society, and a boy who yearns to make his mark. When their father goes missing after a mysterious train crash, Everett and his little sister Bea find a curious pen in his belongings, and its magical Ink…
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Book Review: The Star That Always Stays
by Anna Rose Johnson publisher’s synopsis When bright and spirited Norvia moves from the country to the city, she has to live by one new rule: Never let anyone know you’re Ojibwe. Growing up on Beaver Island, Grand-pere told Norvia stories–stories about her ancestor Migizi, about Biboonke-o-nini the Wintermaker, about the Crane Clan and the…
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Book Review: Pride and Premeditation
by Tirzah Price publisher’s synopsis When a scandalous murder shocks London high society, seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet seizes the opportunity to prove herself, despite the interference of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious firm Pemberley Associates. Convinced the authorities have imprisoned the wrong person, Lizzie vows to solve the murder…
