Mister Orange by Truus Matti (review)

This Dutch import is set in New York City in 1943, where a young boy named Linus finds his life changing when his older brother, Albie, goes to war. In their family, responsibilities move up the line while shoes and clothes move down, so Linus goes from babysitting the little ones to taking over his other brother Simon's shoes and delivery route for the family grocery store. Simon is sullen and grumpy, however, so Albie skips a brother and entrusts his comic-book collection and his sketchbook for Linus to look after while he's gone. Linus finds a superhero that Albie has created and begins an ongoing conversation with the character as his anxieties grow about the war. He also meets an eccentric artist who orders oranges by the crate and shares his vision of the future with Linus when he delivers them. This gently paced coming-of-age story effectively captures the period details of Linus' neighborhood during the war, especially the strong pull of a close, hard-working family and the fear they share for Albie's safety mingled with pride over his service. Linus' artist friend, who turns out to be Piet Mondrian, rounds out the emotional landscape with his unbridled optimism about a glorious future after the war, a future of light and color and progress that he knows he will never see, but that he hopes his work will help bring about. His talks with Linus elicit the pull of hope that Linus needs to help him sort through his feelings about the war and growing up; both the vagueness and the tenor of his emotions are spot on for Linus's age and situation. While this isn't action-packed, it will appeal to artistic, imaginative souls who nurture their own superhero fantasies and believe in the power of art to see them through uncertain times. Each section opens with a loose-limbed monochromatic charcoal and watercolor illustration; end matter includes more information about Mondrian and a bibliography of Mondrian-related resources.