Viva, Rose!

by Susan Krawitz

Overview

Thirteen-year-old Rose takes on the wild west, outlaws, and the strict rules of the early 1900s.

When Rose Solomon's brother, Abe, left El Paso, he told the family he was heading to Brooklyn. But Rose discovers the truth the day she picks up the newspaper at Pickens General Store and spies a group photograph captioned The Southwestern Scourge of 1915! There stands Abe alongside none other than Pancho Villa and his army!

Rose is furious about Abe's lie; fearful for his safety; and worried about her traditional parents who, despite their strict and observant ways, do not deserve to have an outlaw for a son. Rose knows the only way to set things right is to get Abe home, but her clandestine plan to contact him goes awry when she is kidnapped by Villa's revolutionaries and taken to his hideaway.

Deep in the desert, amidst a richly rendered assortment of freedom-seekers that includes an impassioned young reporter, two sharp-shooting sisters with a secret past, and Dorotea, Villa's tyrannical young charge, Rose sees no sign of Abe and has no hope of release. But as she learns to lie, hide, and ride like a bandit, Rose discovers the real meaning of freedom and what she's willing to risk to get hers back.

A Sydney Taylor Honor book
A National Jewish Book Award finalist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823437566
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	04/12/2017
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	10 - 15 Years

About the Author

Susan Krawitz is a freelance writer and editor. Viva, Rose! won the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award for a middle grade novel. The story is partly based on her family's stories of a cousin who rode with Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution. She lives in New York.

Editorial Reviews

03/27/2017
Set in 1915, Krawitz’s first novel combines the world of a storied revolutionary with that of Russian Jewish immigrants who settled in the west. Thirteen-year-old Rose Solomon is enraged to discover, via a newspaper photo, that her older brother, Abraham, has not left their Texas home to be a cowboy, but rather to be “a low-life bandit in a cowboy hat,” alongside outlaw Pancho Villa. Rose is herself tempted to run from her traditional, conservative family, but when she ventures off to mail her brother a piece of her mind, she is kidnapped by Villa’s men. Her eyes are opened wide living with revolutionaries at Villa’s bandido camp, where she learns to ride a horse, the truth about her brother, and the complexities of the Mexican Revolution. Readers will enjoy Rose’s fiery personality and equally brash narration in this engaging historical adventure. Yiddish and Spanish glossaries and an author’s note detailing how her story sticks to and diverges from actual events (Rose and Abe are based on Krawitz’s own relatives) are included. Ages 10–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"The tense atmosphere and exciting setting will ensnare readers' imaginations, while Rose's personal growth will strike a chord with those straddling the complex divide between child- and adulthood."—Booklist
 
"Readers will enjoy Rose's fiery personality and equally brash narration in this engaging historical adventure."—Publishers Weekly
 
"Krawitz has based her tale on family stories and infuses it with details of Villa's hideout and the lives of Jews in an atypical setting. Rose is a determined character who gains a more mature understanding of her family and faith, her fellow towns-people, and Villa through her adventure."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

05/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Rose and her family are Russian Jewish immigrants living in El Paso, TX, in the early 1900s. Rose discovers that one of her older brothers, Abraham, has lied to their parents concerning his whereabouts and has joined Pancho Villa's army. While trying to have a letter delivered to Abe telling him to give up his outlaw ways and come home, Rose is kidnapped by some of Villa's soldiers and taken to their camp. There she becomes the playmate/servant of a young and very spoiled girl named Dorotea. Rose finds her brother and tries to convince him to leave with her. The book is filled with danger and suspense. It also contains a lot of history about Pancho Villa and how he fought for the poor of Mexico. The characters of Rose and Dorotea are the most well developed; Rose is quite mature for a 13-year-old. Her first-person narrative is delivered in a straightforward voice with very little emotion, which often doesn't do justice to the harrowing events in the story. VERDICT A fine supplementary purchase. Hand to fans of historical fiction.—Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC

School Library Journal

2017-02-14
Mexico, Texas, Pancho Villa, and Russian Jewish immigrants share a story.Rose is 13 and living in El Paso, Texas, in 1915 when she sees a newspaper photograph of Pancho Villa. This is not unexpected for the times; the surprise is that her brother Abraham is in the picture. Rose's family has immigrated from Czarist Russia, but unlike so many other Jews, they settled in the West. Abraham had told his family that he wanted to be a cowboy. Instead, Rose sees that he has "gone off to be a low-life bandit in a cowboy hat." Rose's parents are strict with her, but, nonetheless, she tries to get a letter to Abe and is kidnapped by Villa's men, ending up in his camp. There, the red-haired young white girl encounters Villa, his very spoiled and lonely daughter, the journalist John Reed, and, finally, her brother. The two celebrate a very unusual but spiritual Passover Seder. Krawitz has based her tale on family stories and infuses it with details of Villa's hideout and the lives of Jews in an atypical setting. Rose is a determined character who gains a more mature understanding of her family and faith, her fellow townspeople, and Villa through her adventures. Politics and prejudice against Mexicans makes this coming-of-age tale stand out from its ilk. (author's note, further notes, Spanish glossary, Yiddish glossary, additional terms) (Historical fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews