Eyes Open

Gr 10 Up–Verse is a necessary route for Miller-Lachmann’s latest book because main character Sónia is a poet. Sónia’s life in Portugal in the 1960s turns bleak after her boyfriend is arrested and the family business is forced to close; their comfortable living becomes that much harder when Sónia is forced to work a dangerous and backbreaking job for little pay. Coupled with a government crackdown from dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, Sónia has little joy in freedoms she is now denied. As historical fiction goes, a fair amount of background will help readers dive into the story, which may be a stretch for American teens who know little about international politics and dictatorships in foreign countries. Though Miller-Lachmann is presenting just that, a path to understanding the atrocities of regimes on the livelihood of average people in ways that other authors—Jennifer A. Nielsen, Kip Wilson, and Ruta Sepetys, for example—do. However, the pacing dampens the momentum from shocking revelations and harsh treatment of women like Sónia and her sisters. It might have been more compelling as narrative nonfiction than historical fiction told through verse.