Pierdomenico Baccalario

In the Lublin ghetto, in an attic, there is the kingdom of Henio, a Jewish child. He has a secret and he also shares it with his best friend who is not Jewish. Behind the dusty glass of one of the dormer windows a wonder is hidden: a different world, perhaps a place of peace, different from the horror of war that can be seen from the other window. For those who are Jews the time has come to escape. So on the night of March 16th Henio runs to his friend to convince him to run away together, show more but he is afraid and stays. On the morning of the roundup Henio disappeared. His friend looks for him everywhere, even in the attic, where a big surprise awaits him: children's footprints on the window glass and a name that is a greeting. Pierdomenico Baccalario and Alice Barberini give us a moving story to remove the dust from the history of the Lublin ghetto and imagine a different epilogue, also for Henio Zytomirsk. show less

Recensione: http://thereadingpal.blogspot.it/2018/03/recensione-166-i-pirati-dei-mari.html

Ascolto i richiami del mondo.
La giungla silenziosa. La creatura di ferro
che scivola sotto il pelo delle onde.
È impossibile che qualcuno
possa arrivare fin qui. Ma conosco l'impossibile,
e mi preparo ad accoglierlo.


Ormai sono quasi alla fine di questa serie, è già mi viene un po' d'ansia perché sta arrivando il giorno in cui dovrò abbandonare questi personaggi e passare oltre.

In questo libro, Murray e show more gli altri vanno alla ricerca di Ulysses Moore, dopo aver trovato degli indizi che potrebbero portarli a ritrovare l'anziano avventuriero. A Kilmore Kove, Long John Silver e Penelope Moore cercano di organizzare i ribelli quanto possono. Intanto, Rick è prigioniero di Larry Huxley. Riuscirà a trovare un modo per tornare a casa?

Devo dire che sicuramente trovo interessante il modo in cui Baccalario utilizza personaggi di storie classiche per portare avanti la propria storia, e come questi si amalmaghino nel suo universo. Ci sono delle note che spiegano da dove questi personaggi provenghino, e questo potrebbe interessare un giovane lettore alle classiche storie d'avventura e non... Ma dopo quindici libri la storia pare prolungarsi all'infinito, e non sempre nei vari libri succede qualcosa che giustifichi l'essere un volume a parte nella serie. Almeno, non per me.

Qui qualcosa succede sicuramente, ma ho trovato alcuni punti abbastanza lenti.

Interessanti sono invece gli indovinelli e i giochi matematici e d'intuizione che i giovani protagonisti si trovano ad affrontare! Sono sicuramente una sfida, se uno cerca di risolverli per conto proprio prima di andare avanti e scoprire la soluzione giusta. Da ragazzina mi piacevano un sacco questo tipo di libri, e leggere questo libro in un momento un po' difficile personalmente mi ha fatto ricordare di quando le cose erano più facili.

I personaggi di questo libro sono sempre quelli dei volumi precedenti: Rick Banner, Larry, Murray, Shane, Connor, Galippi, Mina... e Ulysses Moore. Oltre a Lady Hyde, poi, compare anche Lady Jekyll, e le due paiono essere più interessanti di quanto mi aspettassi. Spero che compaiano nei prossimi libri e che possiamo vedere di più di queste due sorelle prima che la serie finisca.

Mentre Larry continua ad essere insopportabile, mi è piaciuto il fatto che Mina in questo libro sia davvero fondamentale, e che sia la sua intelligenza e il suo ingegno a guidare il resto del gruppo alla salvezza. Ovviamente Murray pare il più importante del gruppo, ma io personalmente amo più Connor e Mina.

Per quanto riguarda ciò che succede a Kilmore Cove, finalmente qualcosa si muove. E mi piace il fatto che sia Penelope a guidare i ribelli verso la libertà, perché nei primi libri era del tutto assente e solo ora possiamo iniziare a conoscere questa coraggiosissima donna che niente deve invidiare al marito!

Ma in particolare quello che mi è piaciuto in questo libro è il confronto tra Rick e Larry, così diversi e di parte avversa. Il coraggio e la volontà di ferro di Rick vengono contrastati da un bambino petulante e arrogante che non sa bene neanche come muoversi, alla fine dei conti. La differenza tra i due è quasi palpabile, e anche qualcun'altro se ne accorge...

Per quanto riguarda lo stile, è il solito. Leggero e scorrevole, anche se, come ho detto, in qualche punto la prende un po' per le lunghe, qui.

Spero di poter leggere presto il prossimo libro, e intanto, come sempre, vi consiglio questa serie! show less

Before I get too immersed with this review, I want to ask one teeny tiny thing. Am I allowed to squeal? *looks around* Anyone objecting to that? No one? Ok, then. Please excuse me for a moment…

*squeals and jumps like the crazy fan girl she is*

Ahem! Enough of that – for now. Let’s get started, shall we?

Suitcase of Stars. A book full of cleverly hidden, humoristic jabs, of solving riddles, of providing a “bridge” – if you wish – between fairy tales and what we believe to be show more reality. In other words, a book that is quite typical of Pierdomenico Baccalario. It tells us the story of how Finley McPhee, a smart but academically uninterested boy living in a seemingly boring Scottish village – where nothing beyond the ordinary ever happens- meets and befriends Aiby Lily, the mysterious new girl in the village. Her and her father are the new owners to the Enchanted Emporium, a shop specializing in magical objects. But the Lilies are not the only newcomers to Applecross – danger seems to have followed them, a danger that is set to either destroy them, or make sure they don’t open their shop successfully. Will Finley and his new friend make it out of this mess alive? Or will Aiby’s secrets become enough of a burden to keep that from happening? Guess life in Applecross is about to become a whole less dull!

Reading this book proved to be an unforgettable experience. I’ve seen many stories of this genre, some with themes much more unique. And yet, Mr. Baccalario always manages to make me squirm in my seat with a desperate hunger for more! I should have known why that is by the 2nd book of his Ulysses Moore series, but I guess, when I’m excited about something, logic flees at the fastest pace possible. It took me almost half of this book to finally understand. Baccalario has a certain way to tell his stories. He starts out slow – that’s an understatement, scratch that and make it extremely slow – and keeps it that way till you reach the final third of the book or so. He makes you keep turning the pages with his light and funny storytelling, and then grabs your ear and tugs you to the finish line – where he proceeds to throw you off the cliff behind the treacherous bush labeled as “The End”, and leaves you hanging there. Meanwhile, he holds a stick with the promise for the next book tied to its end, dangling it in front of you to give you enough motivation in order to climb back up – though he’s likely to push you again, but, by that moment, you couldn’t care less, as long as he keeps “feeding you” with his amazing imagination and flow of words.

I am torn between cursing him for making yet another story that has me hooked and impatient and in a “oh-my-God-when-is-the-next-book-coming-out” state, and thanking him for making the time and obsession reading this actually caused so much worth it. Characters that are not always what they seem ( though I admit I had my suspicions about Meb ). Dialogues that always make sense and never bore us, no matter how much info one character dumps on another in some of them. A steady, solid plotline with no gaps and holes. And a writer who knows how to show and not just tell his story. Take all these, add the wonderful sceneries, legends and humoristic comebacks, along with Iacopo Bruno’s always helpful and cute illustrations, and you have a real page-turner that promises the best of times and adventures, should you decide to pick it up.

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.*** show less

Suitcase of Stars is the first in the Enchanted Emporium middle grade series and it is off to a great start. Using fairy tales and how they interact with the ‘real’ world while involving the reader with riddles and mystery made for an entertaining and fun experience reading this book.

Finley is a young boy who hates school and is failing due to not attending. He would rather spend his day fishing and imagining the lost treasures of days past. When he is told that he as to work for the show more summer by his father after a horrible confrontation with the schools superintendent, he finds himself learning about the Lily family and their strange ways – only to later find out that their lives are much more crazy than everyone knows.

This was an adorable read, it had elements of magic, fairy tales, and Scottish lore all rolled into a fun-filled mystery for young readers – so why not five stars? Well I had some issues with the book. First off, I never like a book that condones kids skipping school and disregarding its importance. Sadly Finley is like this and I do not think he is a good role model – yes later in the story he wants to alleviate his ignorance about the Emporium and he is a courageous kid, but for someone to not think that learning/school is important and then fall into this marvelous tale is saddening. I think that there could have been another way to write the book without giving school the big heave-ho.

Another item that maybe I just missed – why is the book called the Suitcase of Stars? Yes I know there is a suitcase and I know that it is interesting but it did not do anything for the plot of this story … so I was a little confused by that element.

I think that once I got passed the fact that Finley was a truant and the suitcase had no real significance to the plotline, I was more accepting of the overall story. I think that this series will keep young readers interested with its magic, riddles, and even pictures (Yup! There are pictures). show less