This Rebel Heart
Readers rate it 4.0 (8 on Hardcover)
449 pages · Released Apr 5, 2022 · Knopf Books for Young Readers
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This Rebel Heart parent’s guide: what’s inside
Substance use
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a literary young adult novel centered on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution with significant historical and political weight. The story features queer Jewish characters navigating loss, oppression, and moral choice in a dangerous authoritarian context. While violence and mature themes are present (parental murder, political persecution, war), they are treated with emotional depth rather than graphic depiction. The novel offers strong positive messages about courage, identity, and resistance to tyranny, making it most appropriate for mature teens with some historical awareness.
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From the publisher
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.” —BuzzFee... 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.
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- A mix driven
- Strong Character Development
- Unloveable Characters
- Not Diverse Characters
- emotional
- hopeful
- reflective
- tense
- Fantasy
- Young Adult
- LGBTQ
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ISBN 9780593381267 · Knopf Books for Young Readers