Wordwings

<p>In which I read <a href="http://www.reluctantm.com/?p=6265">another novel about the Holocaust, set in a Polish Ghetto, from the perspective of a child</a>, but without the magical talking dolls. I think I appreciate books about the Holocaust more that don't feature talking dolls, as much as anyone can, or should, <i>appreciate</i> a novel about how truly sh*tty humans can be to each other. </p>

<p>So, <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19876620/book/148213410">Wordwings</a> is about a girl who tells stories in the Warsaw ghetto, writing them between and around the lines of a worn book of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. That's why I requested it; there's something poetic about where she had to write. It has a sort of fairy tale logic in its necessity. And then there's some talk of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Swans">The Six Swans</a>, which I always think of a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0710993/">The Three Ravens</a> from the Jim Henson Storyteller TV show. So, little pieces I liked dappled throughout.</p>

<p>I approached <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19876620/book/148213410">Wordwings</a> as a children's book, maybe because the last novel I read about the Holocaust was geared towards kids. But then <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> tells me it's <i>General Adult.</i> But then Rivke, our protagonist, doesn't really write like a child, although does one write like a child in such situations? I am blessed that I never had to find out. But as an adult book, <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19876620/book/148213410">Wordwings</a> only kind of works, mainly since the secondary characters are more sketches than people. If we put it back as a middle-grade novel, the characterization work better. But then we're again with the voice, which I can't reconcile with a child's one. But I think a middle-grade reader would see past that. And I think that even if it says <i>General adult</i>, I might put it under <i>mature middle-grade (and weirdo grown-ups like me who like middle-grade books)</i>.</p>

<p><A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19876620/book/148213410">Wordwings</a> by Sydelle Pearl went on sale October 1, 2017.</p>

<p><small>I received a copy free from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> in exchange for an honest review.</small></p>