School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Gr 4–7— Historical fiction at its finest. In 1942 a brave Jewish girl escapes from a roundup in Paris and takes her neighbor's baby in a desperate flee to safety, hoping to be reunited with her family. Miri finds herself hidden in a Catholic boarding school in the town of Chenonceaux. She discovers that the nuns who are hiding her also work in the fledgling movement to help Jews escape Nazi persecution. The Ch&6;teau de Chenonceau spans the river Cher that separates Nazi-occupied France from Vichy France, and Miri undertakes several rescue operations through the castle despite the watchful patrols of Nazi soldiers. The layers of storytelling include the mystical presence of Catherine de Medici, who befriends Miri, and several memorable Catholic nuns. Two-time Newbery honoree Bradley is at her best here; this is a novel that brings layers of the past to life in a way, connecting readers to a historic era and showcasing the author's expertise as a gifted storyteller. VERDICT Bradley's latest masterpiece features a determined and daring heroine and details that bring the past to life. Readers will be wholeheartedly rewarded.— John Scott

ALA Booklist (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Paris, France. July 10, 1942. A Jewish refugee, 12-year-old Miri, is forced to flee Paris when gendarmes round up all the Jews in the city. She is helped in her escape with her neighbor's two-year-old daughter, Nora, by a sympathetic nun, who arranges transport to a small town in the French countryside. En route, Miri is separated from Nora and becomes desperate to find her and flee to Switzerland. Before that can happen, however, she squerading as a Christian comes a student at a Catholic girls' school. There, an elderly nun, Sister Annunciata, presses her into dangerous service as a guide, secretly leading refugees to the nearby Vichy border. To her surprise, Miri is aided by the elderly, imperious Madame Simone, who harbors an astonishing secret. Bradley has crafted a compelling historical novel told in Miri's apposite first-person voice. The book has a hint of magic that, while initially jarring, ultimately becomes as satisfying as the whole of this fine novel.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This well-paced novel by Bradley (Fighting Words), set in 1942 Nazi-occupied France, poses thoughtful questions about religious divides and parallels through the experiences of 12-year-old Miriam Schreiber, a German Jew who fled Berlin for Paris with her parents after Kristallnacht. When all the Jews in her neighborhood are rounded up, Miri is separated from her parents and escapes with two-year-old neighbor Nora. Saved by a Catholic nun, the children are sent to Chenonceaux, where the Chateau de Chenonceau straddles the border of occupied France and French-controlled Vichy. Nora is given to a Catholic family, while Miri—pretending to be Christian and going by Marie—is sent to a convent school, where she discovers that two nuns are secretly helping to smuggle Jews across the border. Suffering from fear and anxiety and plagued by guilt for choices she believes she failed to make to save her mother and Nora’s father, Miri—aided by a mysterious, imperious elderly woman—takes on risky responsibilities. Miri’s highly credible emotions and actions make for a deeply sympathetic character facing increasingly dangerous and suspenseful circumstances; secondary characters are satisfyingly complex. All characters present as white; several are Jewish. A historical note concludes. Ages 9–12. (Apr.)