Review by Booklist Review
Lisbon, Portugal, 1967. Fifteen-year-old Sónia Dias, the first-person narrator of this compelling story in verse, is a poet who specializes in free verse ("I don't have time / to rhyme," she asserts). It's the time of Salazar's dictatorship, and Sónia's Communist boyfriend, Zé Miguel, is apprehended by the PIDE (the secret police) and imprisoned. This is bad enough, but then the family loses their restaurant when somebody reports that they have hired a banned musician to entertain. Sónia's parents then force her to leave school and take a job as a laundress for the hotel where her mother works. "We're the black-ant army of women / prostrate before the machines," she writes bitterly of her new job and coworkers. When Zé Miguel escapes from prison, they have a blissful reunion until he betrays her; Sónia has begun a flirtation with the son of the hotel owner, but will he betray her, too? Strong-willed Sónia becomes a rebel, joining her coworkers in a dangerous strike and reading one of her stirring poems before the crowd. Beautifully and fluidly written, Miller-Lachmann's memorable verse novel captures the setting splendidly, dramatizing the abysmal condition of women under the dictatorship. A fine novel for classroom use and independent reading.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Budding poet Sónia Dias chafes against the confines of her rigid Catholic schooling and patriarchal family in this hard-hitting historical verse novel by Miller-Lachmann (Torch), set in 1967 Lisbon during the authoritarian dictatorship in Portugal. Though taught by the nuns that "obedience = eternal salvation" and that they must follow President António de Oliveira Salazar's rule, 15-year-old Sónia embraces her own "Free Will" and clings to her dissident artist boyfriend Zé Miguel, despite objections from her strong-willed father. Tensions escalate and the dire consequences of rebellion materialize when the secret police arrest Zé Miguel and then someone reports that a banned political singer performed at Sónia's family's restaurant, causing them to lose the business and their home. When Sónia defies her father and visits Zé Miguel in prison, her father forces her to leave school to work in a hotel laundry, a dangerous, oppressive workplace ("I scream in pain, but no one hears me/ over the blank and din of machines"). Employing tightly bound poems, Miller-Lachman weaves the perils of authoritarianism into the dynamics between Sónia and her family, and highlights Sónia's activist awakening and the power of protest. Ages 14--up. (May)
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Review by Horn Book Review
In this verse novel, Sonia is living to the fullest as much as a fifteen-year-old girl can under the Salazar dictatorship in 1960s Portugal. She writes free-verse poetry, though the nuns at school deride it; loves her protester boyfriend, though he is imprisoned; and works in her family's restaurant, until they lose everything for hiring a "banned musician who sang a banned song." Sonia's world grows bleaker and more volatile as friends abandon her and her parents treat her with hostility, blaming her for their misfortunes. As Sonia seeks respite in other friendships and relationships, she tries to determine how she wants to live: as a protester against injustice, or safely and comfortably. Miller-Lachmann's free-verse poetry captures the exquisite and the harrowing, the potent longing in romantic moments as well as the physicality in brutal ones: beatings from Sonia's father and from police, the blistering burn from a workplace injury. Both the verse format and the intensity of the protagonist's lived experiences and choices make this story about the power of teenage resistance a page-turner. Back matter includes an author's note with historical background, discussion questions, a glossary, and further reading. Amanda R. ToledoJuly/August 2024 p.135 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sónia Dias faces many challenges under António de Oliveira Salazar's dictatorial rule in mid-1960s Portugal. Though Pai prayed he'd have sons, Sónia is one of five sisters. She's smart and has the heart of a poet but is lackadaisical about school. She covers shifts at her family's fado restaurant and sneaks time with 16-year-old José Miguel Machado, a newly promoted journeyman printer. Zé Miguel is a Communist and artist, and he helps create contraband books to "make a better world." After he's arrested and the family restaurant is shut down for hiring a banned fado musician to perform, Sónia wonders who to blame for informing the secret police. The Dias family squeezes into smaller quarters, and Sónia's pai sends her to work at a hotel laundry alongside her mother. Sónia's no stranger to beatings, which she both metes out and receives at home, but she's unprepared for the exhausting work and dangerous conditions. Fellow worker Zuleika, who's 16, like Sónia, warns her about the owner's flirtatious son, but Sónia ignores her. The verse format allows Sónia's poetic voice to shine, drawing readers into the stark reality she's dealing with. Although her head can be clouded by wine and soft kisses, she knows her own mind and speaks up: "I am a daughter of Eve / who / thinks / questions / dreams." Conveys harshness, beauty--and lingering hope. (author's note, discussion questions, glossary, further reading) (Verse historical fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
