De Fombelle, Timothee. Captain Rosalie. Isabelle Arsenault, Illus. Fiction. Translated from the French by Sam Gordon. Candlewick, 06/2019. [64]pp. $15.99. 978-1-5362-0520-6. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 6-8.
Five-year-old Rosalie is a self-appointed captain who describes her secret mission in her notebook in a classroom of older boys while her father is at war and her mother works in a factory. Beautiful prose, deftly translated from the French, captures Rosalie’s creative imagination and sensitivity. Watercolor illustrations are painted in mostly subdued tones. This heart-wrenching story is for sixth-graders and older. Libraries will benefit from this touching and emotional story of loss enhanced by the subtly detailed, windswept illustrations.
Jennifer Weisberg, San Francisco Public Library