A Faraway Island

this book was so cool if you like any book it should be this one great for ages 8/14

Annika Thor's book A Faraway Island has been on my radar for a while...one of those books I thought I would like, but didn't have access to at my library yet. I read it yesterday, thrilled with it and amazed at how much I really did like the book...and totally irritated that I cannot find the next three books about Nellie and Stephie in English. If I spoke Swedish things would be great, but for right now I am stuck wanting to know more about these remarkable girls. Thor's story is set during the very beginning of World War II. Nellie and Stephie are two Jewish girls from the cosmopolitan city of Vienna, the daughters of a doctor father and opera singer mother. When their parents begin to fear for their safety, they send their children away to Sweden, still a safe haven, to live with foster families. Nellie, at the age of seven, adapts more easily to her new way of life, learning a new language and making friends more quickly than twelve year old Stephie. Stephie finds her foster mother cold and distant and is bullied and teased by the other girls at school. Life in Sweden in a rural setting is nothing like the bustling city of Vienna. When the girls first arrived in Sweden both had been told by their parents that they would be reunited within six months, and then travel to America where they would make a new life. Time passes and as the war escalates and other European countries fall to Hitler, the idea of being reunited quickly seems remote, and Stephie receives a letter from her father asking for her help - that she talk to her foster family about trying to help them get out of Germany. It becomes very obvious that Aunt Marta and Aunt Alma, the girls' foster mothers, do not understand the dire situation in Germany and at first seem unconcerned. Yet as time passes and Stephie shares the story of how the Nazis rounded up her family along with all of the neighbors, Marta begins to see what Stephie and her family have been through and begins to show a tender caring side that Stephie has so needed to see. This story is nowhere near over by book's end. I am so curious to see how things unfold for Stephie and Nellie. Thor leaves readers with resolution to some portions of the plot, but the reason for Stephie and Nellie's presence in Sweden- the need for them to be apart from their parents is unresolved, and World War II is just heating up. I had a hard time reading about the bullying that Stephie experienced...it just seemed so unfair that after being taken away from her family that she wouldn't be able to find some happiness at school or with the distant Marta. Thor redeemed herself a little on this point by the ending, and things appear to be looking up a bit for Stephie, although she is no closer to being reunited with her parents than she was at the beginning of the novel. I am soooooo hoping the rest of these books are published soon in English. A great historical fiction novel for tweens and those interested in World War II.

In 1936, during Hitler's reign, two Jewish sisters who live a wealthy life in Vienna have no choice but to be shipped off to Sweden for their own protection from the war and the German Nazis. Twelve-year-old Stephie and seven-year -old Nellie Steiner are then placed in the homes of two women who live on an island just off the shore of Sweden. Nellie is put into the care of a lady with other children her age and she begins to get attached to her foster home on the island. On the other hand Stephie despises her foster mother, that she has been placed with, who makes her clean and never offers to buy anything new for Stephie. In the mean time Stephie manages to get bullied at school for being a foreigner while her little sister is loved by all her classmates. As the months pass and winter turns to summer, Stephie starts to wonder if she and her sister will ever go home or even worse if they will ever see their parents again. I really enjoyed A Faraway Island by Annika Thor. It had a good story and the characters had very realistic personalties. The story was very sad in a way because of the events that happened throughout the book, her frustration with her foster mother and her little sister. Overall I really liked it, and I would recommend it to 12 and up. Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer Flamingnet Book Reviews Teen books reviewed by teen reviewers

Annika Thor's A FARAWAY ISLAND is set in the summer of 1939 and tells of two Jewish sisters from Vienna sent to Sweden to escape the Nazis. What is anticipated as a short stay becomes a dangerous world for Stephie, who finds it hard to adapt to Sweden or a foster mother who is cold and remote. Will they ever see their family again?

Following the invasion of Austria by the Nazis, two young Jewish sisters from Vienna, twelve-year-old Stephie Steiner and her eight-year-old sister, Nellie, are sent away by their parents to safety in Sweden. Their parents hopes the family can reunite soon and travel to a safer country, but shortly after the sisters arrive in Sweden, World War II breaks out in Europe, trapping the two young girls in a strange and foreign country, away from their parents. The two girls are placed in separate homes on a small island in Sweden, and have very different experiences. Nellie loves her foster parents, who have young children of their own. Stephie however is placed with a seemingly cold and unloving childless couple. While the younger Nellie quickly adapts to life in a strange new country, Stephie struggles to learn the new language, and feels like an outcast in school. Will she ever adjust to her new country and new life? And what will become of the parents she left behind? Before reading A Faraway Island, I had never even heard of the story of the 500 Jewish refugee children Sweden accepted just before the start of World War II. The author, Annika Thor, grew up in a Jewish family in Sweden and had young refugee cousins who had fled the Nazis in Europe. She has published three other books about Stephie and Nellie in Sweden, that tell the rest of their story during and shortly after World War II, and I hope to see them published in English so I can find out the rest of of the story. This book would make a good choice for preteens looking to supplement their learning about World War II with historical fiction, as well as for any reader looking for a unique story set in this time period.