Postcards from No Man's Land

by Aidan Chambers

Book Overview

The ALA Printz Award Winner 2003 ALA Best Book for Young Adults 2003 Booklist Editors' Choice Winner The Horn Book Fanfare Book Carnegie Medal Winner 2000

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525468633
• ISBN13: 9780525468639
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

"Nothing in Amsterdam is What it Appears to Be"

Postcards from No Man's Land is a well written novel wrote in the perspective of two characters throughout the story, and how their lives change while living in Amsterdam. The first main character, Jacob Todd, is a seventeen year old American that goes to Amsterdam for a remembrance in honor of his grandfather, and other fallen soldiers of the war fifty-one years earlier. As it turns out, Jacob has a horrible time trying to adapt to the different customs of Amsterdam, and ends up becoming mugged on his first day there. Now he is without his coat, or what they call an anorak, and without any money on a cold rainy day, he has to find a relatives house in the lonely streets of Amsterdam. The second main character, Geertrui, is Jacob Todd's grandmother, and her story is told in her point of view during the war. While the war is ending, things start to happen with her and another Jacob Todd that is kept secret from everyone else. Follow the story as the present Jacob Todd tries to learn about his family's past while in a foreign country that he knows nothing about. There were many things I liked about this book including the way it was written in the perspective of two characters at two different time periods. I also liked how the book used a variety of vocabulary words, but the only negative about that was that I may have not have known the meaning of the words. The only dislike I had of the book was trying to remember and to follow what was happening to the other characters while reading the chapters because you would be stuck for reading about Geertrui during the war for two chapters, then you would start all over again with two chapters about Jacob Todd in present time. I can not think of any other books like this one, or any other authors that write like Aidan Chambers does because I think that this book is a one of a kind, kind of book.

Excellent Book

I am currently a senior in high school and was recommended this book by my English AP teacher. Postcards From No Man's Land is a wonderfully delightful book. From the first chapter, the reader is captivated by the young, curious, and wise Jacob Todd. I am seventeen, like Jacob, and felt a great connection with Todd. He experiences so many situations that occur everyday in my life. It is comforting to know that an adult author, like Aiden Chambers, can capture these "awkward" moments in one's journey from childhood to adulthood. Not only does this book allow for perspective from a young man, but also from a young woman, living in the 1940's named Geertrui. I, myself, felt most connected to her. Geertrui, is brought up in a very traditional, structured home, where her life has revolved around the morally accepted ideas of maternal instinct and marriage. She is very inspirational throughout the novel and opens young Jacob's eyes to a whole new part of the picture. Overall, there are not enough words in the English language for me to describe my appreciation and love for this book. I urge everyone to at least read it once, and then hand it over to their teens to read. It is definitely an eye opening book. Enjoy! AroChica05@aol.com P.S. *Readers* This book does discuss some serious topics, everything from euthanasia, sexuality, to infidelity. I urge you to first read the book, before handing it over to your young adult, as to adequately prepare for possible questions that may result. :o)

Beautiful, compelling, deeply sincere and thought-provoking.

I'm a teen and I think this book is really beautiful. The first word that comes to mind as I write this review is "sincere". Because it talks with you directly, it goes at once to the centre of the subjects It describes. It doesn't get lost in narrative embroidery and set-ups. As you read you can hear the characters talking and watch the narration with your eyes.About the narration, it's really beautifully built: In a chapter we are told the adventures of Jacob Todd, teenager, through the city of Amsterdam, and in the following we get to know about Jacob Todd, his homonymous grandfather and the events he was involved in in the Netherlands as soldier during the II World War, then back to the young grandchild, and then again with the soldier: A continuous change of scene that more and more induces you to keep reading and to find out the link between the two characters. I think the power of the book is due to the frankness and realism it uses to describe the story and to approach the very important thematics in it.They are euthanasy and mainly love. Love is the centre of the book I think, and by love the book means a lot of things: the love between a grandmother and a grandchild, the love beetween a grandchild and his dead grandfather, the love between a girl and a boy. The book deals with this one with no emphasizing, just with a sentiment of naturalness and frank discovery I have seen nowhere else.I was somehow shocked by this thought-provoking book, and I definitely suggest it to all the people (teens and adults) who are interested in a mature reading.

A sophisticated, emotionally charged work for mature readers

Winner of the Carnegie Medal--one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes--Postcards from No Man's Land is a powerful tale of past and present, told through dual narratives. When 17-year-old Jacob Todd arrives in Holland to attend a ceremony commemorating the World War II Battle of Arnhem and to pay his respects to his dead grandfather, little does he know that his journey will bring him new ideas about love, life, death, and art; friendships with young people who cross gender lines; discoveries of his own identity and sexuality; and a shocking truth kept secret for 50 years and revealed in a diary written specifically for him by Geertrui Van Riet, the now ailing woman who had taken care of his grandfather during the war and, unbeknownst to her family and his, shared with him a passionate but short-lived love affair. Philosophical, comic, painful, emotional, heart-warming, and sensual, the novel is written with exquisite detail--perhaps a little too much detail at times--and a sophistication rarely seen in American novels for teens. The setting of Amsterdam, a city both modern and old, is a perfect reflection of the parallel narratives. The characters are likable and admirable yet realistic, and demonstrate strength and open-mindedness as they attempt to work through personal conflicts and difficulties, many of which are never resolved--an aspect of the novel which may dissatisfy some readers. Not to be regarded as just a work of historical fiction, the novel's treatments of the universal young adult themes of first love, independence, and friendship demonstrate careful thought and originality. Already translated into eleven languages, the novel will surely maintain its resonance among generations of readers to come.

"...dealing with life's emotional geography..."

The story is all encompassing with enough of "literary gaps" to draw the young adult reader in: heart, body and soul. The above reviews have told enough of POSTCARDS' plot (too much really), so instead I invite you to partake in a reading experience of a lifetime. The dual storylines, multi-faceted character and no-easy-answers themes pulsate throughout the novel. POSTCARDS lives up to the author's own mission statement. "I will not compromise on language or content. At 15 people can handle the same language as me, they're just as complicated as me, and are very interested in thinking about important questions for the first time." (Aidan Chambers as quoted in Moira Dunkin's report online at:...)Weaving the threads of Anne Frank's and James Joyce's writing into his own tapestry of an exquisite masterpiece, the LA Youth Writer's Group magnificently sums Chambers' feat of writing up:The judges, from the LA Youth Libraries Group, were unanimous in their choice: "It is a rites of passage book that supports young people in dealing with life's emotional geography. The writer trusts young readers to make up their own minds about life's big issues. This is an outstanding novel which lingers in the mind; every word is well chosen." (see: above Library Association Record website cited above)The only "no man's land" that exists is the land that doesn't bring POSTCARDS to the teen reader. Kudos to Aidan Chambers! Kudos!