The Sky Was My Blanket: A Young Man’s Journey Across Wartime Europe

In this stirring illustrated remembrance, late Caldecott Medalist Shulevitz chronicles his uncle Yehiel Szulewicz’s decision to leave his hometown of Zyrardów, Poland in the years before WWII. Short, staccato opening chapters depict Szulewicz’s and his older brother Abraham’s Jewish upbringing until, in 1930, 15-year-old Szulewicz sets out on his own (“I could no longer live in a home where I didn’t have the freedom to do what I wanted”). He apprentices with a leather worker in Austria until political tensions brought about by the rise of the Nazi party prompt him to flee. From 1933 to 1935, the teen travels to numerous locales, including Croatia and France, before settling in Spain, where he fights against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. In precise, punctuated language, the author recounts everyday occurrences alongside moments of joyful self-discovery as Szulewicz forges his own path. Throughout, Shulevitz touches on historical events across Europe, their effect on the protagonist, and the youth’s own impact on the situations and people around him through the eyes of an adventurous wanderer who always followed his heart. Family photographs as well as b&w artwork appear throughout; grayscale tones overlap the sketchlike drawings, adding dimension and depth to renderings of prominent figures, objects, and scenery. An afterword concludes. Ages 10–14. (Aug.)