"Song of a Blackbird illustrates, with great tenderness, how the past lives within us. This is essential, illuminating reading.” —R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder, White Bird, and Pony

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.

Format: Paperback – with flaps

Author: van Lieshout, Maria

Publisher: First Second

Pub Date: January 21, 2025

Category: Young Adult Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Historical

ISBN: 9781250869821

Evening House Books

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Girls Lost

Children of Blood and Bone

The Blue Book of Nebo

Song of a Blackbird