Genres: Historical Fiction, Teens & YA
Publishers: HarperCollins Children’s Books, Versify
To Be Released: 17 Jan 2023
SYNOPSIS
Gerda Taro, a vibrant, headstrong photojournalist with a passion for capturing the truth amid political turmoil and the first woman photojournalist killed in combat.
The daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants, Gerta Pohorylle doesn’t quite fit in with her German classmates. When she returns from school, she joins a group of young activists and is arrested for distributing anti-Nazi propaganda. Her family decides she must leave Germany. In Paris, Gerta meets André Friedman, a Hungarian photographer eager for fame and fortune, who fosters Gerda’s interest in photography. Together the pair reinvents their brand of photojournalism under the names Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, in part to gloss over their Jewish ancestry, and soon they’re traveling to areas of military conflict and selling their photos for high prices. Gerda continues to travel solo through Europe, often the only woman in journalism circles. Her assignments eventually lead her to Spain to cover the growing conflict that is becoming the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), part of events leading to World War II. True to her political beliefs, Gerda pushes closer and closer to the front line, eager to capture the lives and vibrant hopes of Spanish republican forces fighting against fascism, only to lose sight of her own safety.
COVER:
Let’s start with the cover. It’s brilliant. I love the illustration. It’s eye catching.
WHAT I LIKED:
This is a fascinating book. For starters it’s written in verse and it’s the first book I have read written in verse (that wasn’t a poetry book). I’m fascinated by women on the frontlines and in particular photographers / reporters. The story moved quickly and I would have liked to get to know Gerda more. Courageous woman that risked it all.
I found that this book was more geared less to teens and more to the mature young adults.
