Sylvie

This tightly composed illustrated memoir spans Kantorovitz’s childhood from the late 1960s through the 1970s, when her family emigrated from Morocco to France and lived at a teachers’ college where her father was the director. As a girl, Sylvie sketches while paging through the encyclopedia, later refining her ink and watercolor techniques. These anecdotes reinforce Sylvie’s love of illustration, lending suspense to years of pressure to choose an education career. Like a photo album, chapters distill ordinary events, glossing over them without erasing troubles: Sylvie attempts to conceal her Jewish identity, questions her parents’ strained marriage, cares for three younger siblings, sees her misbehaving brother depart for boarding school, and weathers rocky times with her judgmental mother. High school brings a chaste heterosexual relationship and baccalaureate anxieties. Throughout, airy layouts allow for reflection; a crayon map of the walled grounds early on implies the pleasures of childhood expeditions, and chestnuts from local trees become a nostalgic visual motif, reminding readers of Sylvie’s formative moments. Introspective, this chronicle traces a winding path, concluding with optimism and promise. Ages 9–12. (Feb.)