Blaise Fortune, also known as Koumaïl, loves hearing the story of how he came to live with Gloria in the Republic of Georgia: Gloria was picki...
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May 15, 2011
Clay
rated it: 
2011 Batchelder Award winner
I have a European heart, and this story told by 18YO Koumaïl looking back on his life is a beauty. Part mystery, part history, part coming of age story, his tale begins at the fall of Soviet Georgia where 7YO K manages to have a childhood while dodging revolutionaries, starvation, and other disasters alongside his adored and adoring Gloria, a woman who claims to have adopted him after his mother was badly injured in a train wreck."A Time of Miracles" More...
I have a European heart, and this story told by 18YO Koumaïl looking back on his life is a beauty. Part mystery, part history, part coming of age story, his tale begins at the fall of Soviet Georgia where 7YO K manages to have a childhood while dodging revolutionaries, starvation, and other disasters alongside his adored and adoring Gloria, a woman who claims to have adopted him after his mother was badly injured in a train wreck."A Time of Miracles" More...
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Jun 05, 2011
Ellen
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Blaise Fortune has spent his childhood on the run. He lives with Gloria the kind woman who found him as a baby in the Republic of Georgia. Gloria often tells Blaise the story of how she saved him after hearing a terrible train accident in her family's orchard and how Blaise's mother, a Frenchwoman, asked her to care for him.
As Blaise grows up, things begin to crumble and the Soviet Union collapses. Unsure of why they always seem to be living on the edge, Blaise recounts how he and Glor More...
As Blaise grows up, things begin to crumble and the Soviet Union collapses. Unsure of why they always seem to be living on the edge, Blaise recounts how he and Glor More...
May 15, 2011
Nina Gayle
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 31, 2011
Mandy
rated it:
Wow. This book was really good.
Blaise Fortune (AKA Koumail) begins his story, "My name is Blaise Fortune and I am a citizen of the French Republic. It is the pure and simple truth." Koumail describes the journey he and his caregiver, Gloria, embark upon through the Caucacus Mountain region of Georgia in the 1990s. His earliest memories include his head being shaved with a straight razor by an angry drunk in charge of a refugee complex. Gloria has kept Koumail safe from the r More...
Blaise Fortune (AKA Koumail) begins his story, "My name is Blaise Fortune and I am a citizen of the French Republic. It is the pure and simple truth." Koumail describes the journey he and his caregiver, Gloria, embark upon through the Caucacus Mountain region of Georgia in the 1990s. His earliest memories include his head being shaved with a straight razor by an angry drunk in charge of a refugee complex. Gloria has kept Koumail safe from the r More...
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Mar 21, 2011
Shannon
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A Time of Miracles is a small wonder of a book: quietly well-written, engaging, puzzling and encouraging. It tells the story (or should I say stories?) of Blaise Fortune, a young refugee traveling throughout Eastern Europe/Western Asia with Gloria. Through his eyes, we glimpse refugee camps, an underground railroad-type escape system for Muslims fleeing Georgia, life in a gypsy caravan and what it's like to be an under-aged refugee in France.
This book reminded me strongly of Room and More...
This book reminded me strongly of Room and More...
Mar 15, 2011
Karen
rated it:
I read this short, poignant book after an 8th grade girl told me she loved it, and it made her cry. I loved it too. Taking place during the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the story is about two refugees: a young boy named Koumail, and Gloria, his adored guardian. They are trying to make their way to France, where they hope to find a better life. Koumail loves to hear the story of how Gloria rescued him as an infant from a train wreck which injured his French mother – he carries a
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Jan 23, 2011
Caren
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This book is the 2011 Batchelder Award winner (for a children's book translated into English and then published in the USA). Very few foreign books are translated for our children's book market, so those that appear are usually pretty special. This book concerns a bit of recent history about which I don't recall reading anything in the news. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, there was a lot of upheaval in the small ethnic regions that were once part of the USSR. The autho
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Jul 24, 2011
Bobby
rated it: 
Koumail is a refugee from the Republic of Georgia who moves from troubled area to troubled area in the hopes of reaching the safe haven of France, which he is led to believe, by his caretaker, is his true birthplace.
Not exactly the most ideal read for summer, which is what my main problem was while reading this. During the summer, I crave nearly empty reads full of C-list celebrities, authors with amusing anecdotes about their drinking problem, and other silly, inane topics.
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Not exactly the most ideal read for summer, which is what my main problem was while reading this. During the summer, I crave nearly empty reads full of C-list celebrities, authors with amusing anecdotes about their drinking problem, and other silly, inane topics.
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Mar 06, 2011
Sara
rated it:
I would've loved this book when I was in middle school. Back then, I sought out stories of heartbreak and disaster---most of them set in wartime and most of them offering a glimpse of the beauty still possible in the middle of human waves of conflict. Most of those stories would've been set during the Holocaust, but this one isn't. It begins in a makeshift camp called the Complex, in 1992, a time so recent that I was bewildered not to know of it, scrambling to figure out what was going on and
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Mar 26, 2011
Cornmaven
rated it:
This reminded me a lot of The Boy With The Striped Pajamas, in terms of the narrator being this sort of naive boy living in a war torn world. The writing was perfect for a kid running from militia, not understanding the causes, not knowing all the history, and trying desperately to put some order into his world.
I was surprised by the revelation at the end, although I should have seen it coming. I thought it would be something a little different.
My only hesitation about More...
I was surprised by the revelation at the end, although I should have seen it coming. I thought it would be something a little different.
My only hesitation about More...
Sep 28, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Koumail recounts his childhood journey as a refugee fleeing across war-torn Russia with a woman named Gloria who is the only mother he remembers. It is at once a heart-breaking and heart-warming read as you follow the relentless poverty, hunger, cold and loss through the eyes of a young boy. Gloria tells Koumail the story of his origins over and over through the book, of his French mother whom she believes waits for them across the distant border, of freedom and better days awaiting them. Kou
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Dec 14, 2010
Christie
rated it:
"There's nothing wrong with making up stories to make life more bearable." -A Time of Miracles, by Anne-Laure Bondoux
Koumaïl's story, as he knows it from Gloria, begins with the Terrible Accident. Gloria is picking peaches in the Republic of Georgia (as opposed to picking peaches in the southern US state of Georgia) when she hears an earsplitting noise, like an explosion. Koumaïl has heard this story so many times, and always in the right order. It begins like this: there's More...
Koumaïl's story, as he knows it from Gloria, begins with the Terrible Accident. Gloria is picking peaches in the Republic of Georgia (as opposed to picking peaches in the southern US state of Georgia) when she hears an earsplitting noise, like an explosion. Koumaïl has heard this story so many times, and always in the right order. It begins like this: there's More...
Jun 08, 2011
Heather
rated it:
A Time of Miracles starts by introducing us to Blaise, a 12 year old refugee from the Republic of Georgia who is caught at the border of France hiding in the back of truck full of pigs. In the course of this introduction Blaise mentions several other characters and gives quick descriptions of them that are surefire hooks to draw you into reading more; for example, "I stank as badly as the garbage shed where Abdelmakil slept." Blaise also mentions specific page numbers in a green atlas
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Oct 16, 2011
Jackie
rated it:
Set during a time of unrest and war in Chechnya, A Time of Miracles follows the journey of young Koumail (Blaise) and his adoptive mother (birth-mother) Gloria. They flee from terror and attempt to make their way to France and freedom. Poverty, hunger, and Gloria's ill health make the trek hazardous and nearly impossible.
Gloria has led Koumail to believe that his birth mother was a French woman named Jeanne Fortune and while trying to reconnect with his roots is important...the drea More...
Gloria has led Koumail to believe that his birth mother was a French woman named Jeanne Fortune and while trying to reconnect with his roots is important...the drea More...
Apr 18, 2011
Laura
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Feb 12, 2011
Whitney
rated it:
Winner of the 2011 Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book translated from a language other than English and subsequently published in the United States.
This book is both heart-wrenching and beautiful. It is not especially long but it goes into enough detail that I was practically sobbing by the end (which is not entirely fair because I cry at books all the time). I think it is important for this sort of story to make it into the mainstream so that everyone, bo More...
This book is both heart-wrenching and beautiful. It is not especially long but it goes into enough detail that I was practically sobbing by the end (which is not entirely fair because I cry at books all the time). I think it is important for this sort of story to make it into the mainstream so that everyone, bo More...
Feb 22, 2011
Brittany
rated it:
There was a woman picking peaches in her father's orchard when a train derailed. This woman, Gloria, heard a woman's cries coming from inside a train. The women was French and told Gloria to take her baby Blaise Fortune and gave Gloria their passports. Gloria has raised Blaise as her own, and has given him a proper name of Koumaïl. When Koumaïl turns seven the Caucasus becomes a war filled place and Gloria decides they must flee west to Europe. The traveling spans across five years, with stays h
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Mar 18, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
This book, which is this year's Butchelder winner, was interesting and different from most children's and YA I've read. This book follows a young boy, Koumail, and his caretaker Gloria as they flee Georgia’s war for independence from Russia and attempt to reach France. The story is told from Koumail’s point of view; he is seven when they begin the five-year journey. The book follows Koumail through adulthood, but the vast majority of the book describes their journey as refugees fleeing the war
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Aug 11, 2011
saferia
rated it:
A quick read that I found in the children's section of the library, though I personally wouldn't classify this as a children's book (more YA topics and maturity).
A moving story about unconditional love, survival, and telling stories that bring hope (but aren't necessarily the truth). Set in the early 80s-90s in Georgia (and surrounding Caucauses), the novel tells the story of Blaise Fortune (aka Koumail)and his journey through his refugee childhood. The story follows Blaise as he exper More...
A moving story about unconditional love, survival, and telling stories that bring hope (but aren't necessarily the truth). Set in the early 80s-90s in Georgia (and surrounding Caucauses), the novel tells the story of Blaise Fortune (aka Koumail)and his journey through his refugee childhood. The story follows Blaise as he exper More...
Apr 08, 2011
MJ
rated it:
(translated from the French)
I wish I could get teens to read books like this one and Nye's Habibi: then they might perhaps learn about people behind the headlines on the nightly news and take more interest in politics. This one is about a boy living in Georgia (no, not THIS Georgia) who seems to remember his life only for 6 years on. He squats with his "mother" outside some eastern european town/city in poverty. Eventually he and the woman who saved him from a train-wreck More...
I wish I could get teens to read books like this one and Nye's Habibi: then they might perhaps learn about people behind the headlines on the nightly news and take more interest in politics. This one is about a boy living in Georgia (no, not THIS Georgia) who seems to remember his life only for 6 years on. He squats with his "mother" outside some eastern european town/city in poverty. Eventually he and the woman who saved him from a train-wreck More...
Feb 03, 2011
Brooke
rated it:
It took me a little while to get into this book, because the narrator is a young boy, and the mystery surrounding his early life means that the reader doesn't know exactly what is going on and has to rely on the limited information he can provide. This book covers a topic I didn't know a lot about-- the clashes in Eastern Europe-- and I felt like I walked a mile in someone's shoes by reading it. Still, I might have enjoyed the book more if I had more background on the political situation that
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Sep 23, 2011
Peggy
rated it:
This was a relatively fast read that packed quite an emotional punch. It is the story of 7 year old Koumail and his dear guardian Gloria as they begin a 5 year trek across Europe. They are war refugees from the collapsing, war-torn Soviet Union seeking safety in France in the early 1990's. Each night on their long, dangerous journey Koumail asks to hear the story of how he came to live with Gloria - the story of the Terrible Train Accident that occurred when he was just a baby and resulted in
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Jul 17, 2011
Cinnamon
rated it:
This review may also be found on A Thousand Little Pages.
Koumail knows exactly who he is: Blaise Fortune, undisputable and abandoned-through-a-train-accident French boy. Even as the seven-year-old flees the collapsing Soviet Union with Gloria, his beloved mother figure, Koumail knows that there will always be a safe haven for the faux mother-son duo in France. It turns out to be a journey fraught with hard work and starvation, doubt and heartbreak. Through it all, Koumail merely has to More...
Koumail knows exactly who he is: Blaise Fortune, undisputable and abandoned-through-a-train-accident French boy. Even as the seven-year-old flees the collapsing Soviet Union with Gloria, his beloved mother figure, Koumail knows that there will always be a safe haven for the faux mother-son duo in France. It turns out to be a journey fraught with hard work and starvation, doubt and heartbreak. Through it all, Koumail merely has to More...
Jun 14, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Reviewed by Cinnamon for TeensReadToo.com
Koumail knows exactly who he is: Blaise Fortune, indisputable and abandoned-through-a-train-accident French boy. Even as the seven-year-old flees the collapsing Soviet Union with Gloria, his beloved mother figure, Koumail knows that there will always be a safe haven for the faux mother-son duo in France.
It turns out to be a journey fraught with hard work and starvation, doubt and heartbreak. Through it all, Koumail merely has to re More...
Koumail knows exactly who he is: Blaise Fortune, indisputable and abandoned-through-a-train-accident French boy. Even as the seven-year-old flees the collapsing Soviet Union with Gloria, his beloved mother figure, Koumail knows that there will always be a safe haven for the faux mother-son duo in France.
It turns out to be a journey fraught with hard work and starvation, doubt and heartbreak. Through it all, Koumail merely has to re More...
Jan 02, 2012
Janet
rated it:
Original published in French, this book tells of a "family's" journey through eastern Europe when the Balkan countries scurried for power after the Soviet Union fell, and how political instability, ethnic and religious tensions, and "revolution" forced them into a life we westerners only hear about on news reports--and rarely think twice about.... Issues of immigration, homelessness, Russian/Balkan heritage, and ultimately how to nurture hope are explored thoroughly.
Mar 14, 2011
Erica
rated it:
This is may be a little book but it contains a huge story. It's a coming-of-age tale set during the downfall of the Soviet Union in the former Soviet controlled state of Georgia. I know next to nothing about this region or time period even though the real life events all happened in the 90's. I could go on to give a summary of the story but I wouldn't do it justice. Suffice to say I found the story touching and accessible even not knowing the history. I hope this little book gets a lot of a
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Jan 28, 2011
Karen
rated it:
From the war-torn Caucuses to France, Blaise follows his guardian Gloria's advice and keeps himself from despair. Her guidance and sacrifice drive this story, which is about hope and believing in something better: the good in people, French ideals of freedom, a life far from war. Is her "story" really all a lie though? And if it is does it matter?
Jan 18, 2011
Marilyn
rated it:
Beautifully written story of war's effect on people, especially children. Set in the Caucasus mountains in the early 1990's, this tale of refugees will break your heart, then fill it with hope. This book is redemptive. Some terrible violence - parents should read it before they give it to their middle-schoolers.
Jun 07, 2011
Heather
rated it:
I had to read this for my graduate class. It made me realize how lucky I am. Students reading this would also realize how lucky they are. It is hard to believe that people still have the struggles described in this book. The writing was so realistic I had to check to see if it was an autobiography.
Nov 07, 2011
Janet
rated it:
Beautiful story about a refugee boy in the 1990s who flees Georgia and travels across Caucasus toward what he has been told is his homeland of France. Young people who read this will be inspired by the optimism, courage, and love displayed by Monsieur Blaise and his dear Gloria.
