Children's Books

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MAY 24, 2012

The Lily Pond by Annika Thor

Second to be translated of four books originally penned in Sweden, The Lily Pond is a sequel to Batchelder award winner, Faraway Island which begins the saga of the Steiner sisters, Stephanie and Nellie - two young Jewish girls who are sent by their parents to Sweden from Vienna, Austria as Nazi Germany becomes ever more threatening to Jewish families. In this segment, Stephanie is on a scholarship attending a school in the city of Goteburg, some distance from Hjuvik, a village she has come to love. She is boarding somewhat unhappily with the aristocratic Sonenbergs, has a major crush on their son, Sven, and on her own must deal with being a "new" girl, facing down a prejudiced teacher, and keeping her schoolwork up to scholarship level. And always underlying everything is her worry about the fate of her parents whose infrequent letters keep Stephanie (and the reader) apprised of the worsening conditions for the Jews in Vienna. This is another worthy addition to the body of Holocaust literature so necessary to keep twenty-first century young people aware of this sad chapter in world history. Sixth through eighth grades will find it engrossing reading.

•	Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird by Stephanie Spinner
•	A Life in the Wild: George Schaller’s Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts by Pamela S. Turner
•	Horrible Harry and the Secret Treasure by Suzy Kline
•	Hold Fast, by Blue Balliett
•	Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff
•	Violet Mackerel’s Remarkable Recover by Anna Branford
•	The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
•	City Chickens by Christine Heppermann
•	Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad by David Adler
•	The Story of the Blue Planet, by Andri Snaer Magnason

Children's Books

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