Eva’s dad, a university professor and former Catholic seminarian, sees a Sabbatical year in Communist Poland as his chance to make a difference in the world. Eva, still reeling from her mother’s death, sees it as a guaranteed way to ruin her senior year, and vows to escape to Chicago by any means possible. In Poland, in 1978, their few suitcases of belongings look like unimaginable wealth; Eva is revolted when she’s given, as a rare treat, a shiny slice of lard. But soon she’s more revolted by the persecution she sees everyday. She comes to appreciate Poland’s natural beauty and the stoic courage of her father’s students and friends. As her character gradually evolves against a stark, realistic landscape dotted with lights of courage and hope (one of them named Karol Wojtyla), her voice draws the reader inexorably into the story. Modern Communism is rarely depicted in children’s literature, and never before this well. (Historical fiction. 12-15)
