A Cage Without Bars by Anne Dublin - OPTIONAL

A Cage Without Bars by Anne Dublin, 129 pages.  Second Story Press, 2018.  $11

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (beatings, casual deaths)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

In 1492, Joseph, 12, and his family, and the rest of the Jewish population of Spain, are given just three months to exit the country.  They flee to Portugal and live there safely for 8 months, until one day they are all again forced to flee.  But this time the children are separated from their parents, even children as young as 2, and forced onto a boat.  Where are they going – to Sao Tome to work as slave labor on a fledgling sugar plantation.  Of the 200 children on board, only 600 make it to the island. And more misery and death await them.

If you are a Jewish interest school then you will probably want this more than most schools.  It’s short and interesting, but it will have to be hand sold to readers.  The subject is so obscure, but still worth being recognized.  It is a quick look at the brutality of the world and would easily connect to the problems we still have with “immigration” or unskilled labor today.  

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS