Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Swords by Barry Deutsch

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Bibliography

Deutsch, Barry. 2010. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. New York, NY : Amulet Books. ISBN 9781419706196

Plot Summary

Mirka was not your typical 11-year old Hassidic Jew; she despised her stepmother Fruma's knitting lessons and aspired to be a dragon slayer. One day while running from bullies on the way to school, Mirka happened upon a witch's house, and later when she brought her siblings back to show them Mirka stole a giant grape from the witch's garden. As a result of this, the witch's pig chased and tormented her for days, until she finally confronted and beat the pig. Later that day, the bullies had the pig tied up, but Mirka rescued him, and as a result the witch gave Mirka a reward, which was directions to where she could find a sword with which to fight dragons. The problem is that Mirka had to beat a troll in order to win the sword, and the witch said Mirka's stepmother could help her with this task. Unfortunately, Mirka had to wait until after she and her family celebrated the Shabbos before she could ask Fruma about the troll. It turns out that in order to win the sword, she had to beat the troll in a knitting contest, and years of daydream during her knitting lessons proved this impossible, and her sweater was a disaster. However, Mirka outwitted the troll by keeping an argument about which sweater was better going until sunrise, and the troll turned into yarn at dawn. Hence, this is how Mirka got her sword.

Critical Analysis

In this graphic, Deutsch uses a familiar fantasy topic, aspirations of dragon-slaying, with a non-traditional fantasy heroine, an 11-year old girl who happens to be a Hassidic Jew. Mirka, much like Catherine in Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy, wants to escape the traditional expectations of what young women are supposed to do and find a more exciting life. Mirka soon learns that there is importance of what her stepmother tries to teach her about knitting and other women's' roles in the household, as the contest to win the sword requires her to knit a sweater. However, when her knitting skills fail her, Mirka relies on her wit to outsmart the troll and win the sword.

In addition to providing insight about what family life is like in the Hassidic Jewish community, Deutsch also paints a picture of how important observing Shabbos is for these families. Even

Mirka's quest for the sword is willingly put to the side until her weekly family celebrations are over. The book is also full of humor from the siblings teasing and yelling at each other; there are quite a few Yiddish insults throughout the dialogue, and Deutsch provides translations for those at the bottom of each page. Another interesting detail is the use of contrasting monochromatic color schemes to show day and night. Pages where the events happen in the day are all colored in orange tones, and events happening at night are on blue-toned pages.

Review Excerpts

2010 Andre Norton Award Finalist

2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

Horn Book Guide 4/1/2011 "Eleven-year-old Mirka Herschberg, a Hasidic Jew, is not your average dragon-slaying heroine. The Shabbat-observing protagonist finds herself first battling a furious talking pig then competing in a knitting contest against a troll. A large part of this graphic novel's unique charm is the contrast between the very traditional and super fantastical, reflected in both story line and illustrations. It's also laugh-out-loud funny and thoroughly engrossing." 

School Library Journal Starred 11/1/2010 by Barbara M. Moon "The illustrations are done in a monochromatic palette, with a color change from a warm earthy orange/cream for daytime scenes to a cool lavender/blue for the night scene. With engaging characters and delightful art, Hereville is pure enchantment."

Connections

Readers may also enjoy the 2 other books in Barry Deutsch's Hereville series: How Mirka Met a Meteorite, ISBN 9781419703980, and How Mirka Caught a Fish, ISBN 9781419708008. Another fantasy novel about a Jewish family that might appeal to readers is Adam Gidwitz's The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, ISBN 9780142427378.