The Frozen Waterfall

This is a stunning book full of brilliant imagery backed up by detail. It is the story of a girl, grasping for individuality and recognition as she makes an unaided pilgrammidge into adolescence and life. Snatched up from a life of ease in dry, dusty Izmir (Turkey), Selda and her family struggle in creating a new life in coldest Switzerland. The book is about her experiences from a foreign outlook and a realization of cultural and ethnic preferances and differences and their relevance. Throughout it all she maintains true to her values, as well as adapting some of her new homeland. The title, a metaphor for Selda, skillfully ignites one's own thoughts about life and predjudice. I loved this book at 17- I got a lot more out of it than I would've at 12.