You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
As posted on Outside of a Dog:
I’ve been having several conversations lately about how grisly and parent-deprived children’s stories are, and have been for centuries. Partly this is because of the book [b:Bloody Murder: The Homicide Tradition in Children's Literature|15817366|Bloody Murder The Homicide Tradition in Children's Literature|Michelle Ann Abate|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352997652s/15817366.jpg|21544290] by Michelle Ann Abate that I received for Christmas this year, and partly because every other parent always wants to know why so-and-so’s mother or father or both are dead. Many blame Disney, and while Disney movies are a prime and very prominent example of this tradition, the Mouse is hardly to blame. Bad things happen in children’s stories. Sometimes, it is didactic in nature: don’t stray from the path or talk to strangers, Little Red Riding Hood! Sometimes, it is so the hero’s journey can start from the depths of despair before reaching its pinnacle (everyone from Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress to Harry Potter). But it is a truth universally acknowledged, that happy people with happy lives don’t make very lively literature. It is with this in mind that I think about [b:Zebra Forest|15798672|Zebra Forest|Adina Rishe Gewirtz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351213430s/15798672.jpg|21521613], the debut novel of Adina Rishe Gerwirtz.
Annie and Rew live with their grandmother in the zebra forest. Their father died when they were both very young, and their mother left them, saying “They were always his idea, anyway”. Annie and Rew’s grandmother has her good days and her bad ones, and the kids have learned to adapt and survive, dodging school, grocery stores and social workers. During the summer of 1980, with the backdrop of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Annie and Rew get an unexpected visitor after a nearby prison break: Andrew Snow, their father. What follows is a tense numeration of days in which the children become hostages in their home, learn secrets of their family history and discover hidden secrets within themselves.
For children who have always had a family, explaining why some children don’t can sometimes be tricky. The death of a parent, while sad, is at least straightforward. Explaining why a parent simply walks away is something else entirely. In the course of [b:Zebra Forest|15798672|Zebra Forest|Adina Rishe Gewirtz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351213430s/15798672.jpg|21521613], Annie and Rew must come to terms with 1). a (falsely) dead parent, 2). a parent that chose to leave them and never return and 3). a parent that was taken away from them, albeit through the fault of his own actions. Ms. Gerwirtz handles all these balls in the air with surprising ease and sensitivity. The story is told from Annie’s point of view, but her brother’s feelings are just as keenly felt and understood.
[b:Zebra Forest|15798672|Zebra Forest|Adina Rishe Gewirtz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351213430s/15798672.jpg|21521613] is not a story with much levity. It’s a bad situation that only gets worse before it gets better. But it’s a story worth reading, because everyone can understand the themes of loss, anger, fear and forgiveness. Even if most of your experience comes from Disney movies.
I’ve been having several conversations lately about how grisly and parent-deprived children’s stories are, and have been for centuries. Partly this is because of the book [b:Bloody Murder: The Homicide Tradition in Children's Literature|15817366|Bloody Murder The Homicide Tradition in Children's Literature|Michelle Ann Abate|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352997652s/15817366.jpg|21544290] by Michelle Ann Abate that I received for Christmas this year, and partly because every other parent always wants to know why so-and-so’s mother or father or both are dead. Many blame Disney, and while Disney movies are a prime and very prominent example of this tradition, the Mouse is hardly to blame. Bad things happen in children’s stories. Sometimes, it is didactic in nature: don’t stray from the path or talk to strangers, Little Red Riding Hood! Sometimes, it is so the hero’s journey can start from the depths of despair before reaching its pinnacle (everyone from Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress to Harry Potter). But it is a truth universally acknowledged, that happy people with happy lives don’t make very lively literature. It is with this in mind that I think about [b:Zebra Forest|15798672|Zebra Forest|Adina Rishe Gewirtz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351213430s/15798672.jpg|21521613], the debut novel of Adina Rishe Gerwirtz.
Annie and Rew live with their grandmother in the zebra forest. Their father died when they were both very young, and their mother left them, saying “They were always his idea, anyway”. Annie and Rew’s grandmother has her good days and her bad ones, and the kids have learned to adapt and survive, dodging school, grocery stores and social workers. During the summer of 1980, with the backdrop of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Annie and Rew get an unexpected visitor after a nearby prison break: Andrew Snow, their father. What follows is a tense numeration of days in which the children become hostages in their home, learn secrets of their family history and discover hidden secrets within themselves.
For children who have always had a family, explaining why some children don’t can sometimes be tricky. The death of a parent, while sad, is at least straightforward. Explaining why a parent simply walks away is something else entirely. In the course of [b:Zebra Forest|15798672|Zebra Forest|Adina Rishe Gewirtz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351213430s/15798672.jpg|21521613], Annie and Rew must come to terms with 1). a (falsely) dead parent, 2). a parent that chose to leave them and never return and 3). a parent that was taken away from them, albeit through the fault of his own actions. Ms. Gerwirtz handles all these balls in the air with surprising ease and sensitivity. The story is told from Annie’s point of view, but her brother’s feelings are just as keenly felt and understood.
[b:Zebra Forest|15798672|Zebra Forest|Adina Rishe Gewirtz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351213430s/15798672.jpg|21521613] is not a story with much levity. It’s a bad situation that only gets worse before it gets better. But it’s a story worth reading, because everyone can understand the themes of loss, anger, fear and forgiveness. Even if most of your experience comes from Disney movies.
Some serious stuff here. But good realistic fiction. My heart just ached for Annie and Rew.
Summary When eleven-year-old Annie first started lying to her social worker, she had been taught by an expert: Gran. She told Annie and her little brother, Rew, the one thing they know about their father: that he was killed in a fight with an angry man who was sent away. Annie tells stories, as she and Rew laze under the birches and oaks of Zebra Forest -- stories about their father the pirate, or pilot, or secret agent. But then something shocking happens to unravel all their stories: a rattling at the back door, an escapee from the prison holding them hostage in their own home, four lives that will never be the same. Driven by suspense and psychological intrigue, this novel deftly portrays an unfolding standoff of truth against family secrets, and offers an affecting look at two resourceful, imaginative kids as they react and adapt to the hand they've been dealt.
Summary When eleven-year-old Annie first started lying to her social worker, she had been taught by an expert: Gran. She told Annie and her little brother, Rew, the one thing they know about their father: that he was killed in a fight with an angry man who was sent away. Annie tells stories, as she and Rew laze under the birches and oaks of Zebra Forest -- stories about their father the pirate, or pilot, or secret agent. But then something shocking happens to unravel all their stories: a rattling at the back door, an escapee from the prison holding them hostage in their own home, four lives that will never be the same. Driven by suspense and psychological intrigue, this novel deftly portrays an unfolding standoff of truth against family secrets, and offers an affecting look at two resourceful, imaginative kids as they react and adapt to the hand they've been dealt.
I really liked this one, even though it was fairly predictable. The usual kids trying to make their way despite the adults in their lives being loving but mentally unstable.
Annie and Rew live with their increasingly checked-out Gran and the stories they make up about the life and career of their 'dead' father. Sometimes they go to school and sometimes they don't, but they have an understanding with their social worker. Their lives are enriched by telling jokes together, the occasional pancake feast, Treasure Island, and the times they spend playing and seeking calm in the black-and-white Zebra Forest.
When there is a huge breakout from the local jail, Annie, Rew, and Gran become prisoners in their own home. Gewirtz weaves in the details of the 1980 Iran hostage crisis that would make sense to 11 year-old Annie, and she feels a kinship with those imprisoned Americans. What do hostages do all day? Pace their cells? Is it okay to talk with your keeper? For that matter, what do people do with their time in the jail?
When the man keeping them hostage cleans the windows, Annie learns that the forest isn't really black-and-white. It's brown and tan and green and other subtleties. And, in their captivity, she begins to learn that their lives are not black-and-white either. There is truth and there are lies and there is a long continuum in between; can people be guilty of something awful but not be 100% awful themselves?
An interesting and unusual read. It's been catalogued as juvenile. Should it be? There's fear and claustrophobia and reminiscences of very bad things, but nothing graphic. But the pacing and the interest level feel very adult.
When there is a huge breakout from the local jail, Annie, Rew, and Gran become prisoners in their own home. Gewirtz weaves in the details of the 1980 Iran hostage crisis that would make sense to 11 year-old Annie, and she feels a kinship with those imprisoned Americans. What do hostages do all day? Pace their cells? Is it okay to talk with your keeper? For that matter, what do people do with their time in the jail?
When the man keeping them hostage cleans the windows, Annie learns that the forest isn't really black-and-white. It's brown and tan and green and other subtleties. And, in their captivity, she begins to learn that their lives are not black-and-white either. There is truth and there are lies and there is a long continuum in between; can people be guilty of something awful but not be 100% awful themselves?
An interesting and unusual read. It's been catalogued as juvenile. Should it be? There's fear and claustrophobia and reminiscences of very bad things, but nothing graphic. But the pacing and the interest level feel very adult.
I really like the voice of the main character. The book takes place almost exclusively in her home, but somehow the pacing is good. And there were interesting comparisons to Treasure Island and the Iran hostage situation in the 1980s.
But the two main adult characters didn't act consistently here. I felt they weren't as flushed out as they should've been. Some of it was to add mystery, I'm sure. But withholding information and characterization are two different things. There's also a giant coincidence here that you have to just suspend disbelief.
Overall, I thought it was a solid book and I enjoyed it. I wound really caring for all the characters by the end.
But the two main adult characters didn't act consistently here. I felt they weren't as flushed out as they should've been. Some of it was to add mystery, I'm sure. But withholding information and characterization are two different things. There's also a giant coincidence here that you have to just suspend disbelief.
Overall, I thought it was a solid book and I enjoyed it. I wound really caring for all the characters by the end.
Annie, who has just finished sixth grade, lives with her younger brother, Rew, and her gran on the edge of woods they call the zebra forest. Without much detail to pin it geographically, the story could be set just about anywhere in a small town. Gran has sort of a hillbilly sensibility to her, distrustful of the world, government, institutions including banks, and formal education. She keeps to herself and shuts out the outside world. She has her good days and bad days, but lately the bad days outnumber the good. It is set in the 70's in the midst of the Iran hostage crisis and the story loosely parallels the event when Annie's father, presumed dead, makes a sudden and unwelcome appearance that upends the precarious balance of the household.
3.5 stars. Really nice writing - this is a debut so I can't wait to see what the author does next. I got a little bogged down in the Treasure Island and Iranian Hostage stuff - the comparison was a bit too on the nose - but overall this was really compelling.
This was a slow read. It took me ages to finish and when I started it I thought I was never going to finish it. But it did get interesting towards the end.
This book is on the Oklahoma 2016 Sequoyah list. Fortunately, not only is it age appropriate, it is a good book. There are two kids that are living with their Grandma. the story is told by the older of the two, a girl named Annie. Annie has to write an end of the year essay about three things she wants to happen this summer. Her list is the same as it has been since second grade, to grow taller, have an adventure, and meet her father. From ther, the summer plays out in ways Annie never imagined.