Eyes Open

Budding poet Sónia Dias chafes against the confines of her rigid Catholic schooling and patriarchal family in this hard-hitting historical verse novel by Miller-Lachmann (Torch), set in 1967 Lisbon during the authoritarian dictatorship in Portugal. Though taught by the nuns that “obedience = eternal salvation” and that they must follow President António de Oliveira Salazar’s rule, 15-year-old Sónia embraces her own “Free Will” and clings to her dissident artist boyfriend Zé Miguel, despite objections from her strong-willed father. Tensions escalate and the dire consequences of rebellion materialize when the secret police arrest Zé Miguel and then someone reports that a banned political singer performed at Sónia’s family’s restaurant, causing them to lose the business and their home. When Sónia defies her father and visits Zé Miguel in prison, her father forces her to leave school to work in a hotel laundry, a dangerous, oppressive workplace (“I scream in pain, but no one hears me/ over the clank and din of machines”). Employing tightly bound poems, Miller-Lachmann weaves the perils of authoritarianism into the dynamics between Sónia and her family, and highlights Sónia’s activist awakening and the power of protest. Ages 14–up. (May)

Correction: This review has been updated to reflect the title's text.