Gottika

by Helaine Becker

12-year-old Dany lives with his father, the scholarly Rob Judah, and his silent mother Rachel in the Stoon ghetto on the outskirts of Gottika. Under the ruthless Count Pol, the Stoon community are subject to military raids, prejudicial laws and restrictions on their culture and freedom. When Pol marries Dany’s cousin Dalil, stoking further tension between Gottikans and Stoons, life gets harder still. Urged on by Dany, Rob Judah finally runs out of patience. Something must be done.

One night, Rob Judah breaks curfew and goes down to the river. Dany follows and secretly watches as his father invokes illegal Stoon magic to raise a creature, in human form, from the mud. The Gol comes to live with the family and becomes the invincible protector of the Stoons. He foils plots, prevents violence against them, and starts to bring hope and happiness back to Dany’s family. But then Rob Judah is framed for a brutal murder and thrown in Pol’s dungeon. Now it is Dany’s time to act.

With the help of Moishe, Dalil and a wolf-dog hybrid named Khan, Dany sets out to save his father and defeat Pol once and for all. Along the way, he uncovers shocking family secrets, learns where Pol’s vicious hatred of the Stoons comes from and is gifted with an understanding of the sacred mysteries of life itself.

Compelling, clever and full of twists and turns, Gottika reimagines the powerful Golem legend as a futuristic fantasy with a universal message.

Genres: Middle Grade

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Helaine Becker has written over 70 books, including the #1 National bestseller, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree,and its sequel, Dashing through the Snow, Sloth at the Zoom, Dirk Daring, Secret Agent, the Looney Bay All-Stars chapter book series, non-fiction including Counting on Katherine, Worms for Breakfast and Zoobots (all Junior Library Guild Selections), Monster Science, You Can Read, Lines Bars and Circles, and Boredom Blasters, plus many picture books and young adult novels. She also writes for children’s magazines and for children's television. Her show Dr. Greenie's Mad Lab was a finalist at MIP.com Junior in Cannes.
She has won the Lane Anderson Award for Science Writing for Children twice,once for The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea and once for The Insecto-Files, and the Picture Book of the Year Award from the Canadian Booksellers Association for A Porcupine in a Pine Tree. She has also won three Silver Birch awards and a Red Cedar award.

Helaine Becker holds U.S. and Canadian citizenship. She attended high school in New York, university in North Carolina (Go Blue Devils!!!!) and now lives in Toronto with her husband and dog, Ella. She has two really handsome sons.

Reviews

[Nessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I liked the combination of pictures and prose. Might be a bit confusing for kids, particularly the plot twist at the end, but good for broaching the topics of life, humanity, self-hatred, forgiveness, and right and wrong.

[Jasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit Sensitive for little ones although good historically influenced read.

[Hallie Cantor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable for kids, I suppose, as the protagonist is himself one. His dad creates a golem who gets kinda lonely at times but helps fight the evil king, whose population looks down on conquered races. There are many allusions to earlier dystopian works -- oppressed minority, brutal government -- and some of the parallels are obvious. The minority (Jews are covertly referenced) are confined to ghettos, with restricted movement. A princess is endangered, and a duke basically a perv preying on girls. Some of the twists and turns are confusing, and few stick in my mind. Characters, as well as events, are politically correct -- brainy female protagonists -- but at least the hero is male. Probably kids will like this more than I. A quick and pleasant read, but ultimately like cotton candy.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally posted on www.lostinagreatbook.com

Writing about sensitive subjects for kids can be tough. If you are too sombre, you run the risk of turning off your reader. Too flip, and you invite accusations of irreverence. With Gottika, Helaine Becker ably blends a futuristic science fiction version of the persecution of Jewish people during the war with legend and folklore, breaking down some difficult topics with sensitivity and understanding.

There's something for every reader in Becker's latest novel - historical influences that will invite discussion, steam punk elements to delight the sci-fi/fantasy reader and magical elements to engage the imagination. Indeed, the inclusion of the much revered folklore of the golem adds an extra dimension to the tale.

Within the main storyline, the parallels to the Holocaust are unmistakable, and it's a tribute to Becker's writing style that she is able to portray the injustices in her own words and in her own world, while still instilling the feelings of frustration, fear and prejudice in the reader. Dany's viewpoint allows the reader to experience life under oppression, and his actions are logical and authentic for a fifteen year old, especially one who is feeling both anxious and embittered about his life under the oppressed rule of the cruel Count Pol. His father's actions to raise the gol in order to defend the Stoon people are bewitching, and transform him from a world-weary man to something otherworldly and powerful. The golem - Moishe - is raised for a purpose, and he not only defends the Stoons but also galvanizes them into action.

A word about the format: Gottika is presented in both text and graphic form, and there are key moments in the story that are presented in wordless visual form. I loved this change, as it almost suggested that the emotion of the events was too much for words, and could only be felt by witnessing it yourself. It's also a great technique for less confident readers, encouraging them to continue to connect with the story, and giving a sometimes necessary visual break during an intense situation.

Overall, this is a very powerful story. Younger readers may benefit from some guided reading, especially for some of the more mature events, but the story encourages discussion throughout. This is a fabulous tale, filled with myths and legends, action and emotion, as well as history and imagination, and it's one that will keep readers entertained and informed throughout.

Gottika by Helaine Becker is published by Dancing Cat Books, the young readers imprint of Cormorant Books, and a copy was provided by the publisher for this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. It is available for purchase from your favourite independent bookseller, and other fine book retailers.