The Girl is Trouble by Kathryn Miller Haines YP FIC HAINES

Iris Anderson finally has an understanding with her father’s detective agency, she can help with his business if she’s honest with him and follows the rules.  All that goes out the window when while she’s trying to clear her best friend’s name in a case of anti-Semitic vandalism, she discovers evidence that her mother’s reported suicide was anything but.  Now Iris is breaking the rules, in over her head, and in way more trouble than she realizes.

I loved Iris in The Girl is Murder (reviewed here) and she doesn’t disappoint in her second adventure.  Haines has created a believable teen heroine.  Yes she’s more introspective and driven and moral and seemingly heroic than most teens, but this is dealt with believably because of all the tragedies that have shaped her.  I also love that she gets called “Nancy Drew” as an insult in this book!  It totally fits, because she is no super sleuth and bungles quite a lot.  Personally, I think we have enough hyper-competent detective savants and I enjoy the more grounded approach of solving crimes through dogged determination.  Another high point is the absolutely splendid job Haines did in capturing the mood of the era.  The look at the ugly side of what many look at as a Golden Age in America was really effective.  Also, Haines does an even better job fleshing out supporting characters.  Pearl, Iris’s best friend, is great and really shines throughout the book.  The best part is definitely the mystery of what happened to Iris’s mom.  It makes this story much more personal and raises the stakes way higher than in the first novel. I was surprised that Haines dealt with this key aspect of Iris’s character so quickly instead of dragging it out over several volumes.  I hope that doesn’t mean we won’t have any more volumes!!!  Well, this is a great murder mystery, historical fiction, and book!  Check it out, but DEFINITELY check out Girl is Murder first!

You can check our catalog for The Girl is Trouble here.

We Are on Our Own: A Memoir by Miriam Katin YP FIC KATIN

Told as a series of flashbacks, this is a graphic novel memoir of Miriam Katin’s childhood escape from the Nazi occupation of the Eastern European nation of Budapest. Facing discovery first from the Nazi’s and later fearing the advance of Russian soldiers, Miriam and her mother struggle to survive as the same Antisemitism and inhumanity that threatened them in Budapest follows them throughout their journey. Along the way they find the best and worst of humanity at every turn leading Miriam conflicted about her faith and her relationship with her own daughter.

This is an amazing story of triumph and struggle that can be very dark and depressing, but also has many moments of tenderness and hope. This is not a sentimental look at the past and confronts firsthand the atrocities that women and children often face in war. The art has a rough look to it because of the heavy hatch marks used for shading. The art seems similar to the style of storybooks which works well because this is a story of a child’s memories. This is an amazing work that stands up with other graphic works like Maus by Art Spiegelman(940.5318 SPIEGEL) and should be a good companion piece to Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (949.2 FRANK).