Daisy gets sent to live in England (by her wicked step-mother) with her aunt and cousins and almost as soon as she gets there, her aunt leaves for Norway and war breaks out. Daisy & her four cousins (& assorted dogs and farm animals) are left to fend for themselves and, at first, they fend just fine, but soon, the reality of a not-so-distant war invades their little utopia and things just start to go bad from there.
This is a quick but thoroughly haunting read. I very much liked how Daisy’s narrative voice matures as the story develops, from glib to almost wise. There are elements, however, that I found a bit unsettling for a YA novel (that’s all I’ll say about that for fear of giving too much away). There were a number of YA “issues” (eating disorder, coming of age, etc.) that weren’t dealt with as cohesively as they are in other YA novels, but I almost didn’t mind the irresolution because it kept the novel from being too obviously didactic, which is an easy trap to fall into when writing for a young audience. Overall, an enjoyable read.
glad you read it ~ i’d love to hear what you found unsettling, other opinons, etc. i agree with all you wrote, especially about the issues not being all nicely tied up at the end.
Hi there! Since you’re reading, just thought I’d recommend a good book (non-fiction, but still a great means of escape!) I recently ordered it for the library I work for and read it last week. It’s called ‘Textile Designs : Two Hundred Years of European and American Patterns Organized by Motif, Style, Color, Layout, and Period’ by: Susan Meller and Joost Elffers.
Lots of detailed pictures of amaaaazing fabrics plus lots of interesting facts about how and why certain textiles became popularized. If your library doens’t have a copy,I’m sure you can have them borrow it from another library on an inter-library-loan.
Oooh, sounds wonderful, thanks Jackie! Just put it on hold at my public library, yay! Thanks for the recommendation
I have this book waiting for me on my bookshelf! I can’t wait to read it.