Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

A Time of Miracles

by Anne-Laure Bondoux, Y. Maudet (Translator)

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 334 ratings · 105 reviews

Winner of the Batchelder Award--this tale of of exile, sacrifice, hope, and survival is a story of ultimate love.

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 picking peaches in her father’s orchard when she heard a train derail. After running to the site of the accident, she found a...more

Hardcover, 192 pages

Published November 9th 2010 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (first published January 1st 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

2012 YALSA Nominees - List 1

26th out of 100 books — 44 voters

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Teen Historical Fiction

354th out of 534 books — 1,387 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 790)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 13, 2013 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Judy by: Amanda

Shelves: 2013-reads, fiction, georgia-country

My name is Blaise Fortune and I am a citizen of the French Republic. It's the pure and simple truth.

So A Time of Miracles introduces the reader into the life of the refugees, Blaise (Koumail) and Gloria. Blaise, a young boy and Gloria, his guardian, find themselves on the run again and again as Russian soldiers approach. It seems they can't settle anywhere for any period of time!

Despair, she says, is more dangerous and more clever than the Armenian who knocked out Sergei. It is invisible and sl...more

like 5 likes · see review

Mar 06, 2011 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 wh...more

like 3 likes · see review

May 15, 2011 Clay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, middle-school-or-young-adult

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" tells of K's sear...more

like 3 likes · see review

Apr 05, 2013 Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-lit-2013

Audience: This book would be best for a 6th – 10th grade audience. Some of the more complex ideas may gear this book towards advanced 3rd grade readers.

Appeal: I think this book would be appealing to this age group because of the ideals it insights. For example: love, inspiration, fear and freedom.

Application: Since this book is intended for a young adult audience, it would most likely be read on individual time. For this reason, I would include the book with options for individual reading requi...more

like · see review

Aug 02, 2012 Andrea Mullarkey rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a treat to read some YA fiction that isn’t dystopian! A Time of Miracles is historical fiction and a lovely coming of age story set in the Caucasus following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Koumaïl and Gloria are traveling west away from the orchard where they lived before a train derailed and the family orchard came under siege by rebels. Gloria is a devoted guardian to Koumaïl and she is determined to make it to France where Koumaïl can find his true mother. The stops on their way are g...more

like 1 like · see review

Apr 01, 2012 April Helms rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, fiction, multicultural

A beautiful story. Blaise Fortune grows up with a woman, Gloria, in the Republic of Georgia in the 1990s, when several former Soviet countries were declaring their independence. Blaise and Gloria subside by begging and living off their wits, but the residents of the Complex, at least for a while, form a tight-knit community which even includes a schooling system. Blaise's favorite thing is to listen to Gloria's story on how he was found on a train that had derailed nearby and how Gloria found hi...more

like · see review

Jun 05, 2011 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-11highschool, read-around-the-world

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 Gloria live on...more

like · see review

May 15, 2011 Nina Gayle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-historical-fiction, fiction-middle-grades, fiction-ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A very moving book about a mother,Gloria, who makes up stories for her son, Blaise or Koumail, that she believes will lead him to be safe and happy. As Gloria says, "There's nothing wrong with making up stories to make life bearable." Most of the story takes place in several countries in Europe in the early 1990's. Gloria and Koumail flee Caucasus in order to avoid being caught up in war. Gloria's husband and Koumail's father, Zemzem is a terrorist in this war. Under her husband's influence, Glo...more A very moving book about a mother,Gloria, who makes up stories for her son, Blaise or Koumail, that she believes will lead him to be safe and happy. As Gloria says, "There's nothing wrong with making up stories to make life bearable." Most of the story takes place in several countries in Europe in the early 1990's. Gloria and Koumail flee Caucasus in order to avoid being caught up in war. Gloria's husband and Koumail's father, Zemzem is a terrorist in this war. Under her husband's influence, Gloria made a bomb which he used to blow up a train. When she discovered that Zemzem planned to blow up a train with innocent men, women, and children aboard, she begged him not to do something so horrible. But he did. While helping the victims of this bomb, she discovers two French passports and other items that belonged to a dead woman and her dead baby. In order to be safe, she uses these passports to give herself and her son new identities and possible citizenship in a safer country, France. So, she leaves her husband with her son, traveling from place to place to escape the war and find safety. At each place, they make new friends only to be separated from them and never see them again, because of the war. Gloria is suffering from a respiratory illness and though she tells Blaise that she is strong, she fears dying and leaving her son alone in a dangerous situation.

This book includes a map of all the places named in the book with a key that tells which event happened where. This is a great help in understanding the story. I wish that the author had also included in a foreword or appendix, a brief explanation of the conflict that is so central to the plot, along with telling us what events of the story were factual and what events were fictional.

This story is beautifully written and so very sad. It really makes you think about how horrible war is and how tragic it is to be a refugee from your home country. It is difficult to judge Gloria harshly for her lies when her choices were so very few. I disagree with her philosophy, of lying to make life bearable, but I have compassion for her and understand her motivations. If that was truly the only way to give her son a different life than being a refugee from war, then perhaps she did do the right thing. I am not sure. It makes me think. And that's what a really good book should do.

(less)

like · see review

Mar 31, 2011 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen, historical, multicultural, tween-safe, high-school

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 rebels and effects of...more

like 1 like · see review

Mar 21, 2011 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: youngadult, anna

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 the two boo...more 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 the two books paired together would make for great book club conversations on back-to-back months. It's clear throughout the book that Gloria is weaving tales for Blaise to keep him encouraged, entertained and, ultimately, to keep him alive. But throughout the book and especially at the end, you might wonder, as Blaise does, where the line between a lie and a story is.

One question I asked myself while reading this book is whether my eleven year old and nine year old daughters could read it. There's no sex, no violence, not even any real romance to speak of. But I wondered (and still wonder) whether this story of a boy their age in vastly different circumstances would be disturbing. It might well be, but my eleven year old recently read Words In The Dust and was moved to donate her own money to Women for Afghan Women as a result. I can only keep the tragic state of our world from my daughters for so long and as a lover of books, I can think of few better ways to expose them to these things than through well-told stories that ring with authenticity. A Time of Miracles definitely fits that description. It never wanders into the realm of being saccharine, but Blaise's experiences - and his interactions with other refugees - are certainly enlightening and heartbreaking.

If you're interested in the republics that formerly comprised the Soviet Union - or want to know more about that part of the world, this book will take you there. On the other hand, if you just want to read a book about a young boy finding his way through harsh circumstances with a sense of hope intact, I would still recommend A Time of Miracles. This short book and its well-told truths will stay with you long after the first page.(less)

like · see review

Mar 15, 2011 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, multicultural, favorites

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 pas...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 23, 2011 Caren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

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...more 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 author describes it as a kettle that had been simmering with a lid on. Once the lid is removed, they boil over into strife. This is the story of two refugees from the Caucasus, Blaise/Koumail and his 'mother', Gloria. The story really begins in 1992 when the child, whose Russian name is Koumail, but whom Gloria calls 'Blaise', is seven and is living in a refugee settlement in Georgia, near the Black Sea. Gloria has told him he was rescued from a derailed train in which his French mother perished. She tells him he is a French boy and they are fleeing to France, the country of freedom and equality. Most of the book recounts their journey, mostly on foot, through the troubled regions around the Black Sea, on into Romania, then Hungary and further across Europe.They encounter an interesting cast of characters, most being other refugees or those at the margins of their societies. Their path is shown in a helpful map at the beginning of the book. As they travel, bits and pieces of Blaise's own story begin to come into focus, or at least I began to puzzle through Gloria's recounting of it and have some suspicions of my own. This is a really fascinating look at a time and place about which I knew very little. I won't say more about the story so that I don't give away its poignant ending. I always enjoy these books from other countries because they offer nuanced insights from another cultural perspective. This book was originally published in French and the translation has a sort of foreign feel; some language constructions don't flow exactly as native English does. Still, I love to see the world through the eyes of another culture. (less)

like · see review

Jul 24, 2011 Bobby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: youngadult, historical

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.

But despite the seas...more

like 1 like · see review

Mar 26, 2011 Cornmaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction-high-school, high-school, historical-fiction-middle-school, middle-school, ms-hs

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 recommending this novel wo...more

like · see review

Apr 03, 2013 Stevecrandell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grades-7-9, historical-fiction, multicultural-world-lit

As historical fiction, this story isn’t very strong. It’s much easier to appreciate as a personal drama.

Koumail lives in the fractured post-Soviet Caucasus region, under siege of relentless militia wars. He has the advantage of a French passport, the only clue to his former life, before he was rescued from a transport train explosion.

Koumail’s adoptive mother, Gloria, eventually decides they must make the long, dangerous journey west. The circumstances should be fascinating, but the Caucasus b...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2011 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

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. Koumai...more

like · see review

Dec 14, 2010 Christie rated it 5 of 5 stars

"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 a train wreck just pa...more

like · see review

Mar 22, 2012 Margaret Janavicius rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-literature, for-book-club

“I never lie, Mr. Blaise. I may embellish things a little from time to time, that’s all … There’s nothing wrong with making up stories to make life more bearable.” Throughout Blaise’s life, his guardian Gloria retells the story of how she rescued him from a derailed train near her family’s orchard in the Republic of Georgia. According to the story, Blaise’s injured mother gave Gloria her infant son along with their French passports. Renaming him Koumail, Gloria has cared for him ever since. Thou...more “I never lie, Mr. Blaise. I may embellish things a little from time to time, that’s all … There’s nothing wrong with making up stories to make life more bearable.” Throughout Blaise’s life, his guardian Gloria retells the story of how she rescued him from a derailed train near her family’s orchard in the Republic of Georgia. According to the story, Blaise’s injured mother gave Gloria her infant son along with their French passports. Renaming him Koumail, Gloria has cared for him ever since. Though he knows Gloria to stretch the truth sometimes, Blaise has no reason to believe the story of his rescue is anything but genuine.

When the Soviet Union collapses seven years later, Gloria and Blaise flee from their home and head toward France, clinging to the passports they hope will lead them to freedom from war and political unrest. Over several years they make the difficult journey on foot through the Caucasus and Europe, befriending many other refugees along the way. Though his time with the refugees is brief, these rich, colorful characters leave an indelible mark on Blaise’s heart.

Told from Blaise’s perspective as an adult looking back on his childhood, this is a tale about survival, family, and maintaining hope in desperate situations. According to Gloria, afflictions like lice, fleas, homelessness and hunger are far less worrisome than “the most feared parasite of all, despair.” Gloria’s endless optimism keeps Blaise going as they walk miles and miles “on endless roads toward the unknown.” As he matures into a young man, Blaise comes to the heartbreaking realization that Gloria embellished the story of his rescue, leaving him to unravel her tales and discover the “plain and simple truth” of who he really is.

Originally written in French, Bondoux’s prose is evocative and endearing: one can hear the cough rattling Gloria’s chest, sense the destruction caused by war, and feel the tender love between Gloria and Blaise. A familiarity with Soviet history is helpful, but not necessary for the enjoyment of this beautiful novel about hope, survival, and sacrifice in the search for a better life.
(less)

like · see review

Jun 08, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

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 and the fa...more

like · see review

Oct 16, 2011 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: refugees, survival, ya-fiction, historical, russia, multicultural, france

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 dream of living...more

like · see review

Apr 18, 2011 Laura (The Zealous Reader) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 100-in-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm struggling with how to review and rate this novel for several reasons, mainly because I feel that I should never have read it. Don't get me wrong, it was a good read, it was just very hard to get through. I'm going to give it 3 stars as a middle-grade read for it's simplicity, age-appropriate language, and good plot description/execution, but as a young adult read it wouldn't have passed at all.

First off, this is definitely a middle-grade/young-YA novel which is a genre I don't particularily...more

like 1 like · see review

Feb 12, 2011 Whitney rated it 5 of 5 stars

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, both adults an...more

like · see review

Jun 19, 2012 Erin Reilly-Sanders rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, foreign, juvenile

I thought this was pretty good. I did have some difficulty keeping the roughly contemporary time in mind, but that's not the fault of the book but rather our own little self-centered culture that makes it difficult to see that it can be different and difficult in order places in today's world. It does open up a fascinating world view, although one that is blurred by the confusion of childhood and memory. Gloria's character seems a bit strange at first but later here is explanation for this, alth...more

like · see review

Feb 22, 2011 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, historical-fiction, immigrants

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...more

like · see review

Jan 29, 2013 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-books

I never wanted to put this book down. In fact it almost made me late to work because I just had to finish it. This story follows seven year old Blaise and Gloria, the woman who cares for him, as they travel across the war-torn Cacaucus region and Europe as refugees in search of a peaceful existence. The story is a mystery. Blaise Fortune, known as Koumail, knows only what Gloria has told him about his past, which has been filled with tragedy and hardships. Now Blaise finds himself abandoned in a...more

like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 Kirsten rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads, stats-standalone, stats-borrowed, hoerbuch, g-realistic-fiction, con-coming-of-age, all-age

[Hörbuchrezension]
Der zwanzigjährige Blaise Fortune lebt seit seinem zwölften Lebensjahr in Frankreich. Er erzählt rückblickend von seinem Heranwachsen in den Kriegswirren des Kaukasus von einer Kindheit in der er noch Koumaïl genannt wurde und Frankreich, das Land in dem er nun dank seines französischen Passes lebt, ein weit entfernter Traum von Freiheit, Gleichheit und Brüderlichkeit war.

Am stärksten verbindet er mit seiner ersten Heimat die Erinnerung an seine Ziehmutter Gloria Bohéme, die fü...more [Hörbuchrezension]
Der zwanzigjährige Blaise Fortune lebt seit seinem zwölften Lebensjahr in Frankreich. Er erzählt rückblickend von seinem Heranwachsen in den Kriegswirren des Kaukasus von einer Kindheit in der er noch Koumaïl genannt wurde und Frankreich, das Land in dem er nun dank seines französischen Passes lebt, ein weit entfernter Traum von Freiheit, Gleichheit und Brüderlichkeit war.

Am stärksten verbindet er mit seiner ersten Heimat die Erinnerung an seine Ziehmutter Gloria Bohéme, die für ihn auch seine Mutter darstellt, da seine leibliche französische Mutter kurz nach seiner Geburt in einem Zugunglück verstarb.
Seine Kindheit ist geprägt vom Leben in einem Krisengebiet: Häufige Ortswechsel, ständige Angst und immer wieder Flucht vor der Miliz oder dem Krieg, frühes Arbeiten um über die Runden zu kommen, Armut, Hunger und ungewisse Freundschaften.

Koumaïl kartiert sein Leben mittels eines Atlas. Menschen, die er kennen und lieben lernt, kann er einer Seite seines Atlanten zuordnen – der Seite auf dem das Land oder die Region verzeichnet ist, in der er betreffende Person kennenlernte. Diese Idee hat mich sehr gerührt, da in ihr die große Haltlosigkeit eines Kindes oder Menschen in einer solchen Situation so bildkräftig zur Geltung kommt.

Allgemein lässt sich sagen, dass die Geschichte trotz ihrer traurigen und zum Teil harten Aspekten, sehr einfühlsam und warm erzählt wird. Hierfür sorgt die schnörkellose, klare und aufrichtige Sprache. Nicolás Artajo ist ein hervorragender Sprecher, der diese Geschichte umso nachhallender macht. Von der ersten Minute meint man bei ihm, wirklich Koumaïl zu lauschen.

Trotz des Themas und der Empathie die man fast zwangsläufig empfindet, ist das Buch selbst sehr wertfrei geschrieben. Das Mitleid entsteht mehr dadurch, dass man sich des Kontrasts zum eigenen Leben bewusst wird, als durch Mitleidsheischerei. Die unbedarfte Sicht des Kindes auf die schlimmen Ereignisse ist es, die für Eindringlichkeit sorgt.

FAZIT:
Ein Buch über Leid, Armut, Liebe, Menschlichkeit, Freundschaft und vor allem Hoffnung. Denn das einzig wirklich Heilmittel gegen die Verzweiflung ist die Hoffnung. Diese Botschaft kann das Buch wirklich vermitteln. Gerade die einfachen Worte, mit denen die Autorin Leid und Freude darstellt macht dieses Buch zu einem kleinen Schatz, den man gelesen haben sollte!(less)

like · see review

Mar 18, 2011 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-books

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....more

like · see review

Aug 11, 2011 saferia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction

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 experiences lov...more

like · see review

Feb 16, 2013 Aunbrey Parker rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ce livre est indescriptible. Il m'a fait ressentir tellement d'émotions, tellement de sentiments que c'en est devenu indescriptible. La fuite, les rencontres (qu'elles soient bonnes ou mauvaises), les aléas de la vie, c'est tellement réaliste qu'il est impossible de rester insensible. J'avais le coeur serré dès les premières lignes et ce, jusqu'aux dernières.
L'histoire de ce petit garçon est tellement touchante, pleine d'humanité et d'atrocités, de courage, de volonté et d'espoir.
Gloria est un p...more

like · see review

Apr 08, 2011 MJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

(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 as a baby head by foot...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 26 27 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (8)

More editions...

Genres

Historical Fiction

33 users

Young Adult

19 users

Cultural

9 users

War

8 users

Cultural > Russia

6 users

Adventure > Survival

6 users

Young Adult > Teen

6 users

Cultural > France

5 users

Realistic Fiction

5 users

Cultural > Asia

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Anne-Laure Bondoux

Anne-Laure Bondoux has received numerous literary prizes in her native France. Among her previous books published by Delacorte Press is The Killer’s Tears, which received the prestigious Prix Sorcières in France and was a Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book in the United States.

More about Anne-Laure Bondoux...

Books by Anne-Laure Bondoux

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About A Time of Miracles

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: A Time of Miracles
avg rating	preview: A Time of Miracles Goodreads rating: 3.83 (334 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7932010-a-time-of-miracles?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320431974l/7932010.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7932010-a-time-of-miracles?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux[/url]

A Time of Miracles

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website