A Faraway Island

So many books have been written about Jewish survivors during World War II. This book deals with the little known evacuation of Jewish children from Austria to Sweden in the summer of 1939. Stephie and Nellie arrive in Sweden to live with two separate foster families, and while they worry about the fate of their parents, they have a lot of personal pain to work through, as well. The characters in this book are beautifully written, and totally engaging. This book is a quick read, and would make good reading while traveling this summer. Come check it out!

From School Library Journal:
In this gripping story, Stephie and Nellie, two Austrian Jewish sisters, are evacuated in 1938 from Vienna to a Swedish island and placed in separate foster homes. Twelve-year-old Stephie has promised her parents that she will try to ease her younger sister's way, a burdensome promise to keep. Auntie Alma, Nellie's Swedish mother, is warmer and more welcoming than Auntie Marta, Stephie's more austere foster parent. At first it seems that Nellie will have a more difficult time adjusting, but the opposite happens. Loneliness and a sense of isolation engulf Stephie. The shunning and taunting of cliquish, bigoted girls intensify her longing for home and the familiar, but Stephie bravely perseveres, bolstered by the hope that she will only be separated from her parents for a short time. Unfortunately this does not happen, and the girls must remain on this faraway island.

Mockingbird

It isn't very often that I read a book that actually makes me cry. Mockingbird had me crying on several different occasions. The story's narrator is a young girl named Caitlin, who as Asperger's syndrome. When her brother is killed in a school shooting she is trying to make sense of her world, and to find closure. The book begins after the shooting, but the characters pain is still very fresh. This is beautifully written, and it is not at all surprising that it won this year's National Book Award. Check it out!

From School Library Journal
From inside Caitlin's head, readers see the very personal aftermath of a middle school shooting that took the life of the older brother she adored. Caitlin is a bright fifth grader and a gifted artist. She also has Asperger's syndrome, and her brother, Devon, was the one who helped her interpret the world. Now she has only her father, a widower who is grieving anew and whose ability to relate to his daughter is limited. A compassionate school counselor works with her, trying to teach her the social skills that are so difficult for her. Through her own efforts and her therapy sessions, she begins to come to terms with her loss and makes her first, tentative steps toward friendship.