A Faraway Island # 38

1.      Author:  Annika Thor
2.      Title: A Faraway Island
3.      Genre: Historical Fiction
4.      Subgenre: Chapter Book
5.      Theme: World War, years 1939-1945, refugees, sisters, Jews, Sweden, islands, and  history
6.      Primary and secondary Characters: Stephanie with Nellie, Auntie Alma, Aunt Marta, and Sylvia
7.      Awards: Mildred L. Batchelder
8.      Date of Publication:  Original 1996/ Translated 2009
9.      Publication Company: Delacorte Press
10.  A summary about the book and how you will use it in your classroom.

During the World War II time period Stephie and her younger sister Nellie are forced to go to Sweden by there parents for safety.  Stephie and her family are Jewish and it had become too dangerous for the girls to stay.  Stephie and her younger sister have plans with their parents to meet in Amsterdam but when the Nazis took control of Europe the girl had no other choice but the settle on a small island of Sweden.  Nellie and Stephie are separated into two different households.  Nellie likes the family she is staying with and begins to learn the Swedish language.  Stephie was place with a couple that was childless and seemed to be bitter.  To make matters worse Sylvia, a girl from school teased Stephie about being Germans and other resources.  I would use this book to introduce World War II to the class and show them how families were separated and torn apart. Students should hear the side of a child raised in a different country especially when their culture was the one threatened like this book.