On The Bookshelf
WO,r,
become friends — but it is a dangerous friendship.
Amelie is Jewish, Lucien, who lives in Le Chambon-
sur-Lignonin France, is not. Lucien, realizing now that
he has something "important" to do, takes good care
of Amelie. He helps hide her prayer book, and when
Amelie's shoes get dirty and old, Lucien and his grand-
father make new shoes for her. They make not just
ordinary sabots like most in the village wear, but gold
sabots with a petal design. But by the time Lucien and
his grandfather are almost done, however, Amelie is
gone.
Lucien begins to understand what is going on
around him: that his father is working for the under-
ground and that his friend is in great danger from the
Nazis. Though he hears when his parents tell him that
Amelie will be safer elsewhere, he is sad that he will
not be able to give her the shoes. But he will finish the
shoes, he says, adding a bit more varnish and then
adding red, "bright and strong, like the girl I called
Amelie."
What a nice little book. It also offers interesting his-
torical information about a small area in France where
farmers, risking their own lives, saved 5,000 refugees,
most of whom were Jewish, from Nazi persecution.
Highly recommended.
S.invt
But in the meantime, those moments are precious,
and I am grateful for them."
Great text. Unfortunately, the art does not fall
into the same category. Too bad, because the words
are not only compelling, they're important, remind-
ing us of the wonder of being alive.
The companion piece, Good Night, Lilah Toy,
alas, suffers from the same prOblem: great writing,
mediocre art.
Shoes for Amelie by Connie Steiner, art by Denis Rodier.
Published by Lobster Press (Canada), copyright 2001. 41
pages. $12.95.
Lucien is a little boy who yearns to do something
important, "something special, like Maman, who
opened our door to people we didn't know, like my
brother, who carried messages in the dark, like Papa,
who was off somewhere doing secret, dangerous
work."
One night, Lucien wakes up to find a girl at their
door. She says her name is Amelie. She and Lucien
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4
Shylock's Daughter by Miijam Pressler. Published by
Phyllis Fogelman books, copyright 2000. 266 pages.
$17.99.
Sixteen-year-old Jessica has high hopes — but are
they too high? Jessica's father, Shylock (this book was
inspired by Shakespeare's The Merchant ofVenice), is
the richest man in the ghetto, though he's modest
about it. He dresses poorly and he expects his family
to do the same. His servants, including an orphan
named readily agree, but Shylock's daughter
says no. She wants more from life; Jessica
says she wants to buy flowers and eat pre-
serves and do everything that anyone else
— anyone gentile — can do.
Jessica, meanwhile, is falling in love
with Lorenzo. He is a nobleman, and he
is Christian. Shylock forbids his daugh-
ter from seeing Lorenzo ever again; she
does not obey. In fact, she decides to
marry Lorenzo and live exactly the kind
of life of which she has always dreamed.
Soon, she is doing just that — dining
on preserves and buying flowers. She
weds Lorenzo, as well, and her father
goes into mourning. Yet, he is sad as he
remembers the times he fought with his
only daughter.
Times only get worse for Shylock, who
is being forced to convert to Christianity.
Just as this is about to happen, he runs
away. Shylock's devoted servant, Dalaliah,
does the same, heading for Israel. And
Jessica learns that everything she believed
would be so wonderful may not be what
she imagined.
While directed toward Jewish young
readers and teens, this is not a book for
the faint of heart. It certainly is fast-
paced, but parents should be warned that
it is filled with frightening images of
ghosts and goblins, spooky creatures and
witches. ❑
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