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I've read the book's prequel Rivington Street but hadn't revisited Union Square since I bought it in a used bookstore in Guatemala in 2001. RS is a historical novel, but US reads more like a fictional history. It's full of educational examinations of Jewish life in the 1920s-40s, covering issues like Palestine, Zionism, World War II, communism, and labor politics, but also tells the stories through the lenses of art, fashion, and psychiatry. Tax used oral histories for her research, and the voices sound authentic. To me the most interesting and informative bits are the characters internal and external struggles with the party line and the multi-faceted views on the conflicting Zionist movements. The author does a good job of revealing multiple truths in these contentious topics, but you still have an idea where she's at personally. The sometimes disastrous relationship between the Communist Party and American labor, not to mention the difficulties it creates between father and daughter is sometimes painful to read, but fascinating stuff!

I don't usually read books in translation, cuz I'm weird like that, but since Lisa Von Drasek recommended it highly and gave me a free copy I figured I could give it a shot. I couldn't stand the last German tween book I started (I can't remember what it was called, just that Siu Loong is a big fan), but luckily The Princess Plot didn't drag or insult my intelligence. There were times where I thought it took the characters forever to get what was obviously going on, but maybe that's a tween thing, rather than a generalization it's fair to make about German YA lit based on two samples, only one of which I read through! Anyway, the 14-year-old princess in question is in hiding from her uncle's regency government after the death of her father. A lookalike, our protagonist, is brought in to replace her. The nation of Scandia has some complex problems, and I appreciated the author's nuanced portrait of the rebel leader. Although I did at some points find the characters a little immature, the plot and themes are fairly sophisticated.