The Lily Pond

January 1, 2012

Gr 6-8-Thor takes readers back to World War II Sweden in this sequel to A Farway Island (Delacorte, 2009). Stephie and Aunt Marta are on a boat bound for Goteborg, where the 13-year-old will continue her education while boarding with the Soderberg family. Life in the city brings intellectual and social challenges for Stephie, and she reacts to them realistically. She is naive in her relationship with the Soderbergs' son, Sven, and her temper gets the better of her on more than one occasion. Her crush on him, class conflicts, worry about her Jewish parents who are still in Nazi-occupied Vienna, and her interactions with friends and classmates keep the story full of tension. The teen matures by learning to navigate various relationships-in particular, those with a city friend, the Soderbergs, and a Jewish classmate who has an eating disorder. The ending leaves Stephie's parents' fate unknown, possibly to be determined in the next installment. Though the portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. Soderberg is stereotypical at times and there are some uneven characterizations, Thor nonetheless places readers in Stephie's world with writing that brings to mind Gloria Whelan's books. A good addition to World War II literature.-Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2011
Grades 4-6 This sequel to the Batchelder Awardwinner A Faraway Island (2009) continues the story of the Steiner sisters, refugees being cared for in Sweden while their parents work to escape Nazi-occupied Austria. Now it's 1940, and 13-year-old Stephie is moving to the cultured city of Gteborg to continue her education and board with the wealthy Soderbergs, who, despite offering her a room, view Stephie as a charity case and convenient server for dinner parties. Resilient in spite of her youth, Stephie copes with making new friends, misunderstandings, an unrequited crush, anti-Semitism from some of her teachers, and worries about her parents' worsening situation in Vienna. Although admirable, Stephie is also a believable teen; readers will sympathize as she debates whether to attend a concert she knows her fundamentalist Christian foster mother would forbid. Stephie justifies going, saying her own parents would approve, but her stronger motive is spending time with a handsome, older boy. A compelling look at World War IIera Sweden, this distinguished Holocaust story will resonate. Two more titles, meanwhile, await translation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)