Marius Marcinkevičius, Lina Itagaki. Mergaitė su šautuvu: istorija apie mergaitę partizanę (The Girl with a Gun: the Story of a Girl Partisan), Vilnius: Misteris Pinkmanas, 2023. – 218 p.  

Combining real events (the authors based the story on the memories of contemporary witnesses, including a partisan agent and freedom fighters) and fiction, the book revolves around the Lithuanian partisans and their fight for independence during 1944–1953. The happy childhood of the main character, a girl called Magdė, is interrupted by dramatic events. Little Magdė’s parents are exiled to Siberia by Soviet officers. Due to a coincidence, the girl stays behind – she hides in a doghouse. Besides, her father has given her a task – to pass a secret package to her grandfather. Magdė is afraid to stay in her parents’ house (which is taken over by strangers), so she moves into a partisan bunker. At first, she misses her family and struggles to settle in, but eventually she becomes a helper of the partisans because she knows how to do lots of things. She has learned them from her father, a Scout leader. For instance, she can cover up footprints, make a hook out of a needle and even catch a fish and bake it in clay. Magdė shows extraordinary courage when she needs to perform an operation on a wounded partisan (her shoemaker grandfather has taught her how to sew) and when she walks across dangerous swamps to collect explosives from other partisans.
The book paints a bold and open picture of the Siberian exiles, the partisans’ death and loss, their ability to survive in difficult conditions, as well as the joys of childhood: staging a play in a bunker, taking care of a fox and its cubs, and so on. Readers who have never heard of the partisans, their heroism and dramatic fate, will have a chance to learn about the partisan movement in Lithuania after World War II and perhaps be inspired to discover more about it (the book’s flyleaf features an interactive ‘Pathfinder’s map’). The book employs the form of a comic and describes the vivid emotions of the characters, their expressions and contrasting colours. The dynamic pictures will transport the children right to the mid-twentieth century.

Marius Marcinkevičius (b. 1966) is a writer, doctor and traveller. In 2016 he made a successful debut as a children’s writer. He has written many books for children and one for adults. His work has won a number of literary awards, including the Lithuanian section of IBBY Prize for the best Lithuanian book for children and young adults in 2020. His book Akmenėlis (The Pebble) was also included in the IBBY Honour List. His books have been translated into other languages and adapted for stage, and have become an inspiration for songs.

Lina Itagaki (b. 1979) is an illustrator, comic book creator and a flamboyant personality. She graduated in economics in Japan as well as in graphic design at Vilnius Academy of Arts. She is actively working and participating in exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad. The artist’s debut illustrated book, Sibiro haiku (Siberian Haiku, 2018), received international critical acclaim, including the German Children’s Literature Award in 2021. She illustrated Audra Baranauskaitė’s book Nukas, which was selected as the best children’s picture book in the same year. Her historical comic book Grybo auksas (Grybas Gold, with Rasa Grybaitė) received an IBBY nomination as one of the best books for children and teenagers of 2021. The Girl with a Gun won the Lithuanian Publishers Association Prize for the best illustration of the year in 2023.
Illustrator’s portfolio: https://linaitagaki.com/

Awards

2023: Best Children’s Book of the Year Prize (Lithuania)

Selected translations

Italian: La ragazza con il fucile. Storia di una piccola partigiana. Translated by Toma Gudelytė. Santa Maria Capua Vetere: Lavieri edizioni, 2024

Latvian: Meitene ar šauteni. Stāst par meiteni partizāni. Translated by Dace Meiere. Riga: Liels un mazs, 2024

Contact for rights: linaitagaki@gmail.com