Song of a Blackbird

Fight hate. Make art.

In 1943 Amsterdam, Emma Bergsma’s world changes when she witnesses Jewish families being forcibly deported to concentration camps. That pivotal moment lights a fire within her, and she decides to join the Dutch Resistance. Before long, Emma is drawn into a clandestine world of printing presses and counterfeiters, with thousands of lives on the line.

In 2011 Amsterdam, teenage Annick’s world has changed as well. A search for a bone marrow donor for her beloved oma leads to a shocking revelation: her grandmother was secretly adopted as a child. The only clues to finding their lost family are a series of art prints hanging on the wall--each signed by a mysterious ＂Emma B.＂

This timely graphic novel weaves together two timelines to reveal how art, in the face of political upheaval and nearly insurmountable adversity, can become our greatest lifeline.

Maria van Lieshout was born and raised near Amsterdam, where she spent many weekends in a Museum Quarter row house with her artist aunt and metalsmith uncle. Drawing while her aunt painted, and pecking stories on a typewriter while her uncle soldered metals inspired her love for creating. After high school in Leiden, Maria studied Visual Communications at GWU in DC. In 2000, Maria became an illustrator full-time. She has illustrated/written fifteen picture books. Song of a Blackbird is Maria’s first graphic novel.