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Book Reviewed by:Fictionalized but based on true events, Song of a Blackbird has two intertwined timelines: one is a modern-day family drama, the other a thrilling tale of a WWII-era bank heist carried out by Dutch resistance fighters.
In the present day, teenage Annick is desperate to find a bone marrow donor that could save the life of her grandmother, Johanna. She turns to her family history and discovers a photograph taken by Emma Bergsma.
Decades earlier, Emma is a young art student about to be drawn into what will become the biggest bank heist in European history: swapping 50 Million Guilders' worth of forged bank notes for real ones―right under the noses of the Nazis! Emma's life―and the lives of thousands, including a young woman named Johanna―hangs in the balance.
In this stranger-than-fiction graphic novel, Maria van Lieshout weaves a tale about family, courage, and the power of art. Deeply personal yet universal, Song of a Blackbird sheds light on an untold WWII story and sends a powerful message about compassion and resistance.
This graphic novel is the story of the intertwined lives of two young women who will risk everything to help others. Annick and Emma are both spurred into action by the discovery of a difficult truth—in Annick's case, that her family history is a lie; in Emma's case, that the Jewish people of Amsterdam are being killed... During the Holocaust and Nazi occupation, artwork like Emma's could be a symbol of hope and defiance: whether in the form of forged IDs and ration cards or of sketches and clandestine photographs that showed the truth that Nazis were trying to hide...continued
Full Review
(1050 words)
(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).
R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder, White Bird, and Pony
Song of a Blackbird illustrates, with great tenderness, how the past lives within us. This is essential, illuminating reading. Steve Sheinkin, bestselling author of Bomb, Most Dangerous, and The Port Chicago 50
A visually stunning dive into history, family, and the awesome power of art.
Song of a Blackbird is a dual timeline narrative that follows the lives of two young women, one in modern day and one during WWII. In 2011, Annick goes on a search to find her family's true history, her only clues a set of prints featuring buildings around Amsterdam signed by a mysterious "Emma B." And in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, the artist, Emma Bergsma, works against the Nazis by using her art skills to create forged documents. Maria van Lieshout's debut graphic novel features simple illustrations superimposed over historical photographs taken by people who were resisting the Nazis in a different way.
For most of the war, it wasn't necessarily illegal to take photographs, but a camera could still lead to accusations of sabotage or ...
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