Each and Every Spark
Claire Swinarski’s latest dual-track middle grade novel is set in Paris, where two 13-year-old heroines are living at different times with loss, despair, and sadness. In the present day, Penny Marks’s family has moved from Wisconsin to Paris so her mother can teach and conduct research in art history at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art. Penny misses her friends, her grade eight graduation, and time with her mom. At times she is selfish and petulant, maturing over the course of the story.
Marie Bonnet, also in Paris, is simply trying to survive 1943 under the Nazi occupation, with her writer father sent to difficult factory work in Germany and her best friend imprisoned in a concentration camp. She experiences daily fear at the sound of Nazi jackboots, scarce food—often only potatoes and turnips for dinner—and other hardships. Marie’s elder sister works at a menial job at the Ritz Hotel, where she eavesdrops on Nazis to aid the Resistance, her meagre salary used to buy coal on the black market. Penny loves art and painting, and it is a painting discovered in a hidden compartment in the present day that connects the two girls. Finding Marie’s note with the painting leads Penny on an adventure, giving her purpose and bringing her closer to her family. This compelling tale explores the dangers young people face in wartime and shows that even children worked with the Resistance against tyranny. In an author’s note, Swinarski expresses appreciation for the cover art by Parisian artist Sophie Barocas. To my taste it is too doe-eyed Disney princess. Would this cover appeal to middle graders? I found this a fast-paced, emotional read, engaging readers about living through an occupation, and bonus—a mystery solved. Highly recommended.
