Nonfiction Monday: A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached

Nonfiction Monday is a weekly meme in the Kidlitosphere that invites bloggers to read and review a nonfiction book on Monday as a way to promote high-quality nonfiction titles.  Each week, a different blogger "hosts" Nonfiction Monday and provides a roundup of all the posts.  This week Nonfiction Monday is hosted by Wrapped in Foil!

A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached



Zeina Abirached was born and grew up in Beirut, Lebanon in the 1980s, during the country's civil war.  Windows were barricaded, sandbags were piled up in the streets, and everyone tried to stay inside, away from snipers and bombings.  A Game for Swallows focuses on one night of Zeina's childhood, when her parents went to visit her grandmother.  As their absence grows longer and longer, neighbors come by to eat, drink, talk and keep things as normal as possible.

When I first came upon A Game for Swallows on a display at the public library I saw the cover illustration and color scheme and thought "Oh, another title by Marjane Satrapi!" You'll forgive my ignorance, I hope.  As I came closer and read the title I realized that this was in fact, one of this year's Batchelder Honor books.  How lucky for me that no one had it checked out.  As I read, the black markered illustration style and theme of a childhood marred by war and violence continued to remind me of Satrapi's Persepolis, even though the meat of the story is distinctly different.  By focusing on just a few hours of one evening, Abirached's graphic novel encapsulates all of the fears and dangers of living in war-torn Beirut.  By focusing on just those few hours, though, she is also able to encapsulate the importance how friends and family can make such trying times not just bearable, but able to be remembered fondly.  The tension as they await the return of their parents is real and palpable.  And so are the bonds of friendship that have been strengthened and tested as the building residents come together to be there for one another.  Simply drawn.  Beautifully told.  Moving. Personal.

Recommended for 7th grade and older.

A Game for Swallows is a 2013 Batchelder Honor book.  

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review: Son of a Gun by Anne de Graaf

Son of a Gun by Anne de Graaf

Lucky and his sister Nopi are at school in their Liberian village, when members of the rebel forces invade the school, kidnap all of the students and force them to become child soldiers.  Desperate to get back to the city and to reunite with their family, they risk their lives to escape.  But the story isn't over so quickly.  After they find their family and the war ends, it starts up again, and they find themselves once again at the will of soldiers who will not hesitate to mame and kill to ensure allegiance.

This slim, yet powerful novel evokes the fear and desperation of children dragged into a civil war.  Told in the alternating voice of Lucky and his sister Nopi, it follows the siblings over five years of bloodshed and loss.  Though the subject matter is very sensitive, de Graaf handles it with finesse, acknowledging the violence, but not venturing into gore.  Because the story is told as a reflection of the brother and sister, and the details of the violence are something they prefer to forget, the major focus is on their hopes, dreams and fears.  After the story, de Graaf provides a thoughtful Author's Note and extensive background material that will help young readers place the story and understand Liberia's history. Discussion questions are also included.  This is a perfect read for a class (history, social justice, reading, etc.) to do together, as it will provoke strong reactions and may ignite concern and an interest in helping the children of war.

Recommended for grades 7+.  Give this to those who were riveted by Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Patricia McCormick's Never Fall Down, or another title (fiction or memoir) about child soldiers.  Reluctant readers will be drawn in by the length (under 100 pages), but will keep the pages turning to learn of the fate of Lucky and Nopi.

Son of a Gun is a 2013 Batchelder Honor book.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.