The Wind Rises

Starred review from August 15, 2022
Two vividly wrought parallel stories, set in the 18th century, intertwine in this gripping historical adventure, a series opener by de Fombelle (Vango). Thirteen-year-old Alma lives in Isaya, a fictional secluded West African valley, with her brothers, Lam and Soum; their mother, Nao; and their father, Mosi. The reason for their isolation is unknown to the children, who have never been outside the valley, but Alma, believing that “even in paradise, you have to tell stories and create imaginary worlds for children,” weaves tales for Lam about the world “over there.” Curious and wanting to witness “over there” for himself, Lam disappears, prompting Alma and Mosi to go searching for him. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Joseph Mars, a white orphan who hails from Lisbon, boards the Sweet Amelie, a ship captained by despicable Lazarus Gardel, who plans to “bring back captives from Africa.” As the Amelie makes port and Alma leaves her valley for the first time, Alma and Joseph’s lives converge. Place’s (The Last Giants) intricate b&w line art skillfully portrays the siblings’ joyful adventures, powerfully contrasting Joseph’s harrowing experiences aboard Gardel’s ship. De Fombelle uses richly detailed, consistently engaging prose, suspenseful atmosphere, and a complex cast to deliver an action-packed tale about heartbreak and resilience. Ages 8–12.

Starred review from September 1, 2022
Grades 6-9 *Starred Review* At its heart, this first volume in the Alma trilogy, translated from the French, is a dramatic story of the eighteenth-century French slave trade but, in the telling, it is much more; it is an absolutely riveting adventure filled with breathtaking suspense. The story begins in an Edenic African valley inhabited by 13-year-old Alma and her family. When her 10-year-old brother vanishes, Alma sets off in pursuit without telling her parents. The action--which alternates between Alma and her co-protagonist, 14-year-old Joseph Mars (who is white)--then turns to Joseph's dramatic appearance on the slave ship The Sweet Amelie, where he becomes a kind of de facto cabin boy with a closely guarded secret. An ominous note is sounded when the ship's despicable captain, Lazarus Bartholomew Gardel, makes his first appearance. While the ship sails to Africa to buy enslaved people, Alma is in constant danger as she continues to pursue her missing brother. De Fombelle (Gramercy Park, 2019) has created a breathtakingly readable saga that evokes a nineteenth-century three-volume novel, a notion reinforced by the many accomplished illustrations by Place. Art and text conspire to create a brilliantly formed and unforgettable world of action, adventure, and, in its gritty depiction of the treatment of the soon-to-be enslaved, heartbreaking realism. The book concludes with a cliff hanger as, accordingly, must this review!

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August 1, 2022
Pirates and enslavers traverse the 18th-century seas in this novel spanning the disparate corners of the triangular trade. In a West African valley, 13-year-old Alma; her brothers, Lam and Soum; and their parents, Nao and Mosi, live in isolation for reasons unknown to the children. The appearance of a creature the young people take for a solid-white zebra draws their attention to the outside world, threatening the family's serenity. The kidnapping, enslavement, and commerce of African peoples is intimately familiar to Nao, who escaped capture with the help of Mosi, a former slave trader himself. Thirteen-year-old Joseph Mars, an orphan secretly seeking a mysterious fortune, learns of the slave trade's terror and brutality aboard The Sweet Amelie, a vessel with a callous, greedy captain that he sneaked onto in Lisbon. Lam's pursuit of the white horse, Alma's pursuit of her brother, and Mosi's attempts to save his family from enslavers are interwoven with Joseph's clandestine search for gold and the account of a 14-year-old French heiress who has inherited tremendous debts alongside ownership of The Sweet Amelie. While forming compelling threads of an adventure, the plot relies on horrors and trauma that contrast the witty, humorous, and immersive writing with the very different stakes for the European and African characters. The author's attention to historical detail and Place's striking line drawings add charm and romance to a story that sometimes struggles to justify either. A well-written series opener uncomfortably built upon real historical tragedies. (Historical fiction. 13-18)

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September 16, 2022

Gr 4-7-Mystery is on every page of this fantasy that has some touches of historical fiction. The novel opens with a family in a unique world that is full of peace, joy, and happiness. As more is shared about the family of two loving parents and three children, readers become aware that the parents are hiding something incredibly important to the safety of the entire family. When one member goes missing, others slowly disappear as they leave to search, slipping from this nearly magical world to one that will seem more familiar. The author begins to introduce new characters and settings that are seemingly unrelated to the previous plot. The story becomes more complex as readers are left to manage all the disparate characters. As the novel concludes, de Fombelle weaves all the story lines into a riveting series debut that borders on transcendent. VERDICT This ambitious novel explores many challenging concepts such as family, humanity, and slavery with honesty.-Jennifer Seebauer

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