Though occasionally convoluted, it is ultimately a poignant, thoughtful work.
When her father is arrested on November 9, 1938 (Kristallnacht), and sent to a concentration camp, 10-year-old Franziska Mangold, raised Protestant though of Jewish ancestry, gets a coveted spot on the Kindertransport, which carries her from Berlin to London, where she is taken in by a kind-hearted Orthodox Jewish family.
Voorhoeve empathetically explores the effects of Ziska's abrupt separation from her home, family and best friend, Rebekka Liebich, with whom she roamed the neighborhood, in this engaging and often moving coming-of-age story, originally published in Germany. In England she has to adjust to a new language, culture, school, religion and family (Dr. and Mrs. Shepard and their 18-year-old son, Gary). She is even given a new name, Frances. Ziska's story is divided into three books: "Survival Plan 1938-1939," "Blackout 1939-1940," in which Frances is evacuated to the country when Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939, and "Returning Home 1941-1945," in which there is tragedy, danger, romance, the end of the war and complicated reunions. Throughout, the author skillfully weaves in important aspects of the Kinder experience. Ziska tries desperately to find a sponsor for her parents, experiennces confusion over her identity and religious beliefs as she bonds with her adopted family, feels guilt for those left behind, especially Bekka. An ongoing thread about Jewish ritual and law, especially as it relates to fertility, contains some inaccuracies, which is regrettable, given the context. A glossary would have been helpful.
Though occasionally convoluted, it is ultimately a poignant, thoughtful work. (afterword) (Historical fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3360-2
Page Count: 412
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
A winning blend of touching moments, memorable characters and situational humor takes readers to a surprising revelation at...
A teenager disappears and leaves behind a quirky to-do list for her best friend.
It’s the beginning of summer, and Emily is disconsolate; her best friend, Sloane, is nowhere to be found. But she’s disappeared before; her parents would occasionally steal Sloane away for a few days, and she would return tanned and with travel tales to tell. Without Sloane, reticent Emily feels like she’s lost her spiritual and social tether. Finally, two weeks later, Sloane sends Emily a to-do list in the mail—but without a return address. The list includes daring, funny, incongruous items like “Hug a Jamie,” “Steal something,” and “Go skinny-dipping,” and with the completion of each task, Emily is coaxed farther out of her shell. She recounts the navigation of the deep, unfamiliar waters of self-discovery in a grave, meticulous past tense. As she’s on her way to complete the first item, she befriends Frank Porter—a handsome, kind and accomplished fellow student. Emily shares the list with him, and as Frank helps Emily cross off each item, their friendship deepens. Soon, Emily’s having to remind herself that Frank has a serious girlfriend out of state, and anyway, they are just friends, right? Interspersed flashbacks provide revealing background into Sloane and Emily’s friendship.
A winning blend of touching moments, memorable characters and situational humor takes readers to a surprising revelation at the story’s end. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3500-1
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
