This Rebel Heart, Katherine Locke
This Rebel Heart, Katherine Locke
List: $27.50 | Sale: $19.25
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This Rebel Heart

Author: Katherine Locke

Narrator: Kathleen Gati, Steven Jay Cohen

Unabridged: 11 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/05/2022


Synopsis

A tumultuous tale of the student-led 1956 Hungarian revolution—and an all too timely look at the impact of Communism and the USSR in Eastern Europe—set in a fabulist, colorless post-WWII Budapest from Sydney Taylor Honor winner Katherine Locke.
 
“A haunting, beautiful read that centers queer Jewish characters.” —BuzzFeed

In the middle of Budapest, there is a river. Csilla knows the river is magic. During WWII, the river kept her family safe when they needed it most--safe from the Holocaust. But that was before the Communists seized power. Before her parents were murdered by the Soviet police. Before Csilla knew things about her father's legacy that she wishes she could forget.

Now Csilla keeps her head down, planning her escape from this country that has never loved her the way she loves it. But her carefully laid plans fall to pieces when her parents are unexpectedly, publicly exonerated. As the protests in other countries spur talk of a larger revolution in Hungary, Csilla must decide if she believes in the promise and magic of her deeply flawed country enough to risk her life to help save it, or if she should let it burn to the ground.

With queer representation, fabulist elements, and a pivotal but little-known historical moment, This Rebel Heart is Katherine Locke's tour de force.

About The Author

Katherine Locke (they/them) is the author of The Girl with the Red Balloon, a 2018 Sydney Taylor Honor Book and 2018 Carolyn W. Field Honor Book, as well as The Spy with the Red Balloon. They are the co-editor and contributor to It's A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes and Other Jewish Stories, a contributor to Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens and Out Now: Queer We Go Again, and co-editor of This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us. They are also the author of the picture books Bedtime for Superheroes and How to Be Friends with a Dragon. They can be found online at KatherineLockeBooks.com and @bibliogato on Twitter and Instagram.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kate

This was just STUNNING. Even as someone interested in history, I'd never come across much about twentieth century Hungary before and this was a fascinating look at the 1956 Revolution and how memories of WWII affected people's feelings during the Cold War in ways I hadn't necessarily thought about b......more

Goodreads review by Megan

Initially, two things attracted me to This Rebel Heart: that gorgeous cover, and the fact that it was set in a part of history I'd read little about. I've read so many historical fiction novels regarding World War II and the Holocaust, but never any about the aftermath of the war, or any of Hungary'......more

Goodreads review by A.J.

I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. This book was everything I hoped for in a story that promised a historical fantasy narrative centering queer and Jewish characters. Set in 1956 Hungary during the short-lived (and ultimately failed) Hungarian Revolution against the Sov......more


Quotes

★ "Vivid, suspenseful, emotionally grounded, and heartbreaking... essential reading for lovers of historical fiction." —SLJ, starred review

★ "A breathtaking, affecting work…. The queer characters, gentle three-way romance and passionate socio-political activism in This Rebel Heart are likely to strike a recognizable chord for teens of any era." —Shelf Awareness, starred review

★ "Like Sepetys’ The Fountains of Silence, this will certainly send readers to research a lesser-known resistance movement and realize that while it’s easy to judge history in hindsight, it’s far more difficult, but necessary, to try to make it." —The Bulletin, starred review
 
“With its richly drawn characters and gutting depictions of post-Holocaust trauma and antisemitism, This Rebel Heart is a grounded, often heartbreaking account of Jewish life under Russian occupation." —Polygon
 
"Katherine Locke isn’t a household name—yet. This Rebel Heart could very well be the book to change that." —BookPage

"History and magic intertwine in a beautifully rendered Budapest.... Challenging and rewarding." —Kirkus Reviews

"Locke offers an original, moving tribute to the bravery of freedom fighters—straight and queer, Jewish and gentile—who risked their lives for their cause." —Publishers Weekly