Review by Booklist Review
Arnold's (Red Hood, 2020) extraordinary historical novel takes place in Czernowitz, Romania, during WWII. Frederieke and her "beautiful, terrible" older sister, Astra, live at the mercy of neglectful parents until their observant Jewish grandfather takes them in. This fascinating dysfunctional family pulls together when war arrives with the Russians in 1940, the year Rieke turns 14. They are lucky to remain in their home after the Nazi invasion that follows, but this means witnessing the destruction of their city alongside the deaths and deportations of friends and neighbors, experiencing intense hatred on the streets, and falling ill from starvation. Yet, their story is suffused with the pure love between Rieke and her Opa and the more complicated love between sisters. It also creates an intense dread of what might befall them. Opa insists "we can love more persistently than they can hate." Rieke struggles to believe it, especially after she secretly yields to nonconsensual sex in exchange for food. Fortunately, readers know from the beginning that Rieke, based on the author's grandmother, will survive the war. This beautifully written novel juxtaposes passages of transcendent insight with terrible loss. Perfectly curated setting details make Rieke's emotional journey rich, accessible, and immediate. An excellent choice for readers of Monica Hesse and Ruta Sepetys (particularly I Must Betray You, 2022), and a first purchase for all teen collections.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this searing historical novel set in 1939--1945 Romanian Czernowitz, Arnold (Red Hood) presents a deeply personal telling based on her grandmother's experience living through the Holocaust. After her philandering father abandons the family, Jewish 13-year-old Frederieke Teitler, her mercurial older sister Astra, and their depressed and physically weak mother must rely on Reike's fiercely kind maternal grandfather Opa, who is a jeweler, to survive. Opa has always acted as her stalwart guardian. But the approach of brewing unrest from neighboring Poland toward Czernowitz--long considered a safe haven for Jews--means that Reike must confront the idea that Opa may not be able to protect her from everything. As war breaks out throughout Europe, Reike struggles to manage relationships with her family and wonders what she'll have to face to find peace. Arnold confronts tough subjects, including genocide, hunger, rape, and suicide, via unflinching depictions of war and compassionate renderings of intense familial drama. Even amid these somber topics, the author conveys hope and resilience through Reike's persevering personality and her vulnerable relationships with Astra and Opa. Includes an author's note, a history of Czernowitz, b&w archival photographs, and a reading list. Ages 14--up. (Oct.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Arnold's gripping novel of sisterhood and survival amid both Soviet and Nazi occupation illuminates a little-explored part of the Holocaust in Romania, based on the life of the author's grandmother. Growing up in Czernowitz, Rieke Teitler's world revolves around dance lessons with her sister, Astra, and her grandfather's watch-repair shop. But in 1939, disaster strikes three times: Rieke develops tuberculosis, Astra falls in love with a much-older man, and Romania is caught up in WWII. As Rieke struggles to survive persecution and her worsening illness, she must also find her own path between the moral polarities of her grandfather and sister. Religious Opa wants to "build this world with love" in the face of hatred. By contrast, Astra insists "Sometimes we choose between bad, and worse." Arnold gives the characters and moral dilemmas breadth and depth. Astra's selfishness is sometimes pragmatic and life-affirming; her much-older husband is a philanderer and also a life-saving doctor. Later, a smuggler sexually abuses Rieke--but also gives her food that allows her family to survive. The truth is difficult, but as one character says, "knowing is better than not knowing." Rieke must learn to make choices and maintain her ability to love. The complex setting is another truth, expertly revealed. Arnold represents the full cultural complexity of Czernowitz, which has belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Romania, and modern Ukraine. A historical afterword includes photographs of Rieke and Astra's real-life counterparts. VERDICT Arnold's wrenching tale of two sisters surviving the Holocaust in Romania is a must-read.--Katherine Magyarody
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Review by Horn Book Review
In this historical novel set in Czernowitz, Romania, thirteen-year-old Rieke and her beautiful, headstrong older sister, Astra, live with their depressive mother and religiously observant grandfather, Opa, a jeweler and business owner. As antisemitic fervor mounts, the family is seen by those in power as being part of "the Jewish problem." The girls are denied access to public school, Opa's business is vandalized, and their lives and livelihood are threatened. Things go from terrible to worse as the city is occupied first by the Soviets, then by the Germans a year later. The family is forced to leave their home, and Jews from around the city are rounded up into a ghetto with no heat, electricity, or water. Rieke's lingering cough is confirmed as tuberculosis, and she seems destined to perish until a friend of her estranged father steps in to provide financial support; horrifyingly, he rapes her in the process. The teen begins to heal, finds her voice, and strengthens her resolve, until her beloved grandfather's murder threatens to break her spirit. Arnold's (Red Hood, rev. 5/20) compelling and well-researched narrative is deeply personal, respectful, and redemptive; through story, she bears witness. Her depiction of Rieke's experiences allows readers to truly feel how the horrors of war give the character many reasons to hate as well as to discover her enormous capacity to love. Front and back matter establish a connection to Arnold's grandmother's memories from Romania and provide photos and a reading list. Luann TothNovember/December 2023 p.75 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
There are millions of Holocaust stories. This is one you haven't heard yet. Acclaimed author Arnold leaves behind her metaphor-laden fantastical fare to tell the fictional tale of Frederieke Teitler, a Jewish girl whose life was inspired by that of the author's grandmother Frieda Teitler during the Holocaust in then-Romanian Czernowitz, where nearly 40% of the population was Jewish. Painstakingly researched (the extensive backmatter details the blend of scholarship and family history) and sometimes painful to read, this book is many things: an examination of love and duty, a revelatory account of a Holocaust experience many won't know, and a wrenching coming-of-age story. Rieke experiences hunger, illness, rape, and the loss of all she has known, yet somehow holds on to hope and love. The small and sometimes terrible complexities of familial drama play out against the vastness of the Holocaust. Rieke's mother pines for her unfaithful husband; Astra, Rieke's older sister, is the axis around which all things must turn, and someone Rieke adores beyond reason despite her chronic, careless malice, belied by sudden gestures of immense love. The rock amid this tumult is Opa, her grandfather, whose steady kindness and honor remain, even as the world around them descends into hate and violence. A moving glimpse into a past that is an all-too-possible vision of our future. (foreword, timeline, author's note, archival materials, reading list) (Historical fiction. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
