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Song of a Blackbird
Song of a Blackbird | Maria van Lieshout
2 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
FIVE STARRED REVIEWS! "This is essential, illuminating reading." --R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder Fight hate. Make art. In 1943 Amsterdam, Emma Bergsma's world changes when she witnesses Jewish families being forcibly deported to concentration camps. That pivotal moment lights a fire within her, and she decides to join the Dutch Resistance. Before long, Emma is drawn into a clandestine world of printing presses and counterfeiters, with thousands of lives on the line. In 2011 Amsterdam, teenage Annick's world has changed as well. A search for a bone marrow donor for her beloved oma leads to a shocking revelation: her grandmother was secretly adopted as a child. The only clues to finding their lost family are a series of art prints hanging on the wall--each signed by a mysterious "Emma B." This timely graphic novel weaves together two timelines to reveal how art, in the face of political upheaval and nearly insurmountable adversity, can become our greatest lifeline.
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psalva
Song of a Blackbird | Maria van Lieshout
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This is a wonderful piece of storytelling. Weaving together a fiction based on several true stories of segments of the Dutch Resistance, this graphic novel outlines the overlaps between making art and resisting fascist regimes. van Lieshout contrasts her original art with photos, many taken by the resistance group Underground Camera. What we get is a unique look at how art can be used to fight hate in a meaningful way. Highly recommend.

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psalva
Song of a Blackbird | Maria van Lieshout
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1943, The Dutch Resistance, the blackbird sings.
“You‘ve seen my presence in beauty: LOVE, ART, MUSIC, NATURE. Many believe that‘s all I do. But every now and again, I reach into someone‘s gut and turn them INSIDE OUT. I strip them of their innocence and of the PERMISSION it gives them to carry on as usual.”

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