The paper girl of Paris

When Alice inherits an apartment in Paris from her grandmother, she begins to uncover mysteries that the elder woman took to her grave. Discovering that her grandmother had a sister is a shock but not so much as the evidence that this mysterious great-aunt Adalyn may have been a Nazi sympathizer. Chapters jump between modern-day Alice sleuthing for answers and WWII Adalyn living in Nazi-occupied Paris, and an incredible tale of loss, lies, and resistance unfolds. As Alice learns the secrets of her family's past, she must also confront the unspoken conflict in her family's present--coming to understand her mother's "dark phases"--and find the strength to face their issues head-on. Though at times the dramas of the present-day time line seem trivial compared to the atrocities of Nazi occupation, Adalyn's story is a gripping and heart-wrenching look at the strength of human spirit in the face of overwhelming odds, and it will surely keep readers eager to know both tales. A strong historical fiction debut.

Taylor's suspenseful debut tells the story of Adalyn Bonhomme, a teenage French Resistance worker in Paris during WWII, in her own words and as uncovered by her grandniece, 16-year-old American Alice Prewitt. Upon the death of Alice's beloved grandmother, Chloe, she and her parents are stunned to learn of an abandoned family apartment in Paris that Chloe left to her. In Paris to "check out the apartment," the Prewitts make another discovery: Chloe had a sister, Adalyn, with whom she was extremely close. Fortuitously finding her great-aunt's diary and photos of her dining with Nazi officers, Alice--aided by handsome French teenager Paul--seeks to understand why her grandmother never spoke of Adalyn and their home. Relying on Adalyn's journal--which never reveals her Resistance work--to solve this mystery, Alice finds Adalyn's activities perplexing; readers, however, are privy to her firsthand account of posing as a Nazi sympathizer. Meanwhile, Adalyn's romance with Paul grows, and she becomes desperate about her family's silence regarding her mother's depression, situations that parallel Adalyn's experience. While the two voices can sound indistinct from each other, both absorbing narratives build momentum, posing thoughtful questions about secrets and loyalties. Ages 13--up. Agent: Danielle Burby, Nelson Literary. (May)

Passionate, impulsive Chloe and her popular older sister, Adalyn, were inseparable--until the Nazis invaded France in 1940 and Adalyn started keeping secrets. Over half a century later, Alice, Chloe's 16-year-old American granddaughter, has just inherited her childhood home in Paris. The fully furnished apartment has clearly been neglected for decades and raises more questions than it answers: Why didn't Gram talk about her childhood? Who is the second girl in the photos throughout the apartment? Why didn't Gram's family return there after the war? Alice's father is reluctant to discuss anything that might upset Alice's mother, who's still reeling from her mother's death, so Alice decides to find answers on her own. What she eventually learns both shocks and heals her family. Chapters alternate between Alice's and Adalyn's voices, narrating Adalyn's experience as a French Christian of the Nazi occupation and Alice's attempts to understand what happened after the war. The girls' stories parallel one another in significant ways: Each has a romance with a young Frenchman, each has a parent struggling with depression, and each must consider the lengths she would go to protect those she loves. Though at times feeling a bit rushed, Alice's engaging contemporary perspective neatly frames Adalyn's immersive, heartbreaking story as it slowly unfolds--providing an important history lesson as well as a framework for discussing depression. Alice and her family are white. Gripping. (Historical fiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.