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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop, William Pène du Bois
1 review
snekmint's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This is a book for upper elementary school children about Nazi-occupied France. Over the course of a few days, Nazi soldiers arrive at a church/school where 20 French children live with a nun, and search it for evidence that they are hiding Jewish children--which they are. The children hold fast and refuse to betray the Jewish children despite bribery and threats from the Nazis. There is no way to avoid the fact: it is a tale of war. This is a story of heroic love and faithfulness among victims.
It is also written in a gentle and age-appropriate way-- the Nazi soldiers are frightening and clearly horrible, but Bishop uses an author's most wonderful and impactful weapons against them: demonstrations of courage, incredible cleverness under pressure, unshakeable faith and friendship in the face of evil; and most powerful of all, making the Nazis look foolish and outsmarted. Laughter, literally displayed in this book by 20 children laughing at the man who mistook the ramblings of a toddler, is a wonderful force that unmans and disarms the powerful.
This little vignette of resistance during war is one that belongs in every school library.
It is also written in a gentle and age-appropriate way-- the Nazi soldiers are frightening and clearly horrible, but Bishop uses an author's most wonderful and impactful weapons against them: demonstrations of courage, incredible cleverness under pressure, unshakeable faith and friendship in the face of evil; and most powerful of all, making the Nazis look foolish and outsmarted. Laughter, literally displayed in this book by 20 children laughing at the man who mistook the ramblings of a toddler, is a wonderful force that unmans and disarms the powerful.
This little vignette of resistance during war is one that belongs in every school library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Child abuse and Physical abuse
This is a book for upper elementary school children about Nazi-occupied France. Over the course of a few days, Nazi soldiers arrive at a church/school where 20 French children live with a nun, and search it for evidence that they are hiding Jewish children--which they are. The children hold fast and refuse to betray the Jewish children despite bribery and threats from the Nazis. There is no way to avoid the fact: it is a tale of war. This is a story of heroic love and faithfulness among victims.