13 Ways to Say Goodbye, by Kate Fussner

Much to her older sister's annoyance, Nina always wanted to tag along.  In Nina's eyes, her sister was so brave, always trying out new things and forcing herself to move forward.  Nina could only follow after.  But when her sister died, there was no longer anything to follow and Nina became even more reclusive and even less brave.

Right before her thirteenth birthday, Nina is sent to Paris to spend the summer with her aunt and study art. The most important thing she takes with her is the checklist her sister created years ago when she was in Paris.  Nina intends to follow one last time in her sister's steps and complete the checklist for herself (including the items that her sister never did).  In doing so that summer, Nina surprises herself by going much further and finally striking out on her own.

Written in verse, the story relates Nina's emergence as an individual, the flowering of her artistic creativity, and a sweet first romance (in Paris!).  Great material.  Unfortunately, the writing is merely functional and adds little to a well-trod milieu.  In the thin air of a verse novel, the characters feel undeveloped.

One Step Forward, by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Teen-aged Matilda, growing up in a radical family in Washington DC, finds inspiration supporting and eventually protesting for the Suffragists.  Told in verse, the novel traces her involvement (including her presence at the "Night of Terror") to the eventual ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.  Rooted in well-documented history, Atkins gives herself license to explore the mind of the youngest radical suffragist.

There's no faulting the retelling of historical facts, many of which may be only hazily known by readers and the idea of focusing on a teen makes the novel inspirational for young readers.  However, for a story rich with people and events, the verse format provides too sketchy of a treatment.  And while the poetry is definitely above average, it can prove distracting and distancing to the storytelling.  That frustrates attempts to understand the events of the story.  Reading a more traditional historical account alongside this novel would prove beneficial and in fact be a useful complement.

The Enemy's Daughter, by Anne Blankman

At the onset of the Great War, twelve year-old Marta and her father are caught overseas in America and must undertake a dangerous trip under false papers to return home to Germany.  Unfortunately, they choose to cross the Atlantic aboard the Lusitania and when that boat is sunk by the German Navy they narrowly survive.  On land, her father is arrested as a suspected spy and Marta flees.  Alone but sharp-witted, Marta finds her way to York where she befriends an Irish girl whose family gives her a home.  But with all Germans considered to be dangerous enemies, Marta must conceal her identity.

Torn between her love for her country and the undeniable cruelty of the German navy in sinking a civilian ship, Marta still believes that Germany is in the right.  But living amongst the English for several months, she begins to wonder if it all isn't a bit more complicated than she's learned in school.  Her Irish friend hates Germans as fervently as she hates the English, yet the two girls have nonetheless become best friends.

A lovely adventure, but with a glacial pace and the repetitive storytelling.  Its two themes ("there are no sides" and all people can be good or bad) are well-established and then driven home in again and again.  Those are fine messages but become boring in their repetition.  Some of that is of course the story's limitations.  The premise is interesting, but there isn't very much that can be done with the character.  There's only so much adventure that one can plausibly subject a twelve year-old to in a middle reader.