Jennifer A. Nielson's stunning new historical novel for young readers: LINES OF COURAGE!
ABOUT THE BOOK
World War I stretches its cruel fingers across Europe, where five young people, each from different backgrounds and nations, face the terror of battle, the deprivations of hunger, and all the awful challenges of war.
Felix, from Austria-Hungary, longs for the bravery to resist Jewish deportations before his own family can be taken.
Kara, from Britain, dreams of someday earning her Red Cross pin and working as a nurse - or even a doctor.
Juliette, of France, hopes her family can remain knitted together, despite her father's imprisonment, as the war's longest battle stretches on and on.
Elsa, from Germany, hopes her homing pigeon might one day bring her a friend from out of the chaos.
And Dimitri, of Russia, wants only to survive the front, where he's been sent with no weapon.
None of them will find exactly what they want. But the winds of fate may cross their paths to give each of them just what they need.
REVIEW
Blending together the stories of five different main characters creates an interesting challenge for an author. Jennifer A. Nielsen takes that challenge and runs with it. She's written a compelling, remarkable tale about five young people who experience a variety of heartaches and struggles during World War I. World War I is written about less in children's literature than World War II is, although to truly understand World War II, it helps to have a basic understanding of World War I since the first World War directly led to the second.
Nielsen starts readers off by placing one of her young characters, Felix, a young Jewish boy, witnesses the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. After seeing his father off to war, Felix and his mother get stuck in the city when the Russians arrive quicker than expected. Somehow Felix is going to have to find the courage to escape with his mother, before they are exiled to an internment camp with the other Jews. Kara from Great Britain, joins her mother on an ambulance train hoping to eventually become a nurse, but she two must find her courage when faced with a difficult choice that might cost her everything. Juliette flees from Verdun with her mother and two brothers. When she gets separated from them she must find a way to survive until she can find a way to free her father and be reunited with the rest of her family. Dimitri's been sent to the front lines to fight with no training and no weapon. He must face the horrors of war while wrestling with his own conscience regarding his fellow Russians disloyalty to the Tsar and his dreams of freedom. And as the war comes to a close, Elsa confronts growing discontent and anger on the home front as food becomes scarce and her father becomes a target of mobs.
It's amazing the way the author weaves together the stories of each of these young people as each of them must find and exercise courage during the war. I found myself cheering on each character as he or she made difficult, courageous decisions that often led to unforeseen consequences. As with her other books, Nielsen tells a story that seeps into your heart and inspires you to seek to find your own courage in the face of life's difficulties. It's fascinating the way the author also managed to give the reader a glimpse into many different sides of the war. There are characters from both sides as well as from five different countries and backgrounds. As with any book about war, there are multiple tragedies and threats that surround each character. Nielsen has been careful to avoid being overly graphic, but every character faces terrifying and difficult situations. This book is fabulous historical fiction, the kind that I love to hand to my older students.
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