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.
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