Book-Reviews

Finding Sophie by Irene N. Watts; Tundra Books: New York, 2002; $6.95 Before I read Finding Sophie I had read several books about Jewish children who went into hiding during World War II, or who were in concentration camps. I was very excited to read this book because it was about something new to me: children who were on the Kindertransport and what happened to them. I learned that the Kindertransport was a special train. It brought children, who were Jewish and living in Germany, to England. England was a much safer country during the war. I liked the main character instantly! Her name is Sophie Mandel. She is 14 years old for most of the story—the same age as my sister. Sophie is brave and full of spirit. She is an amazing artist, also. Her life was so different from the way my life has been. Can you imagine being separated from your parents when you are only seven years old, and not knowing if you’ll ever see them again? This is what happened to Sophie after she left her parents in Germany. She was sent on the Kindertransport to England to live with her mother’s friend, Aunt Em. Sophie was lucky because Aunt Em loved her so much and she loved her back. She had a good life with Aunt Em, even though life wasn’t easy during that time. You have to concentrate when you are reading Finding Sophie because the story moves back and forth in time. Sometimes Sophie would think back to special times she had had with her mother and father. They called her Zoffie in German. The saddest part in the story for me was, as Sophie got older some of the memories of her parents began to fade. Sophie has guilty feelings because she wants to stay in England forever with her Aunt Em and her new friends, Mandy and Nigel. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Sophie had a reunion with a girl named Marianne, who had looked after her on the Kindertransport like a mother. They had to deal with being far away from their families, and with losing a close family member. This gave them a special bond. I won’t spoil the ending for you and tell you what happens, but I was happy for Sophie the way things turned out. Part of the reason I enjoyed the book so much is because the author, Irene Watts, told the story in such a real way. I thought it was fascinating that she was a passenger on the Kindertransport when she was a child, just like Sophie. If you are interested in learning about children’s experiences during the Holocaust, you will enjoy reading this book. Allison Goldberg, 11Suffern, New York

Triss by Brian Jacques; Philomel Books: New York, 2002; $23.99 A book of adventures. Comic and distinct personalities. Several story lines that wittily intertwine together, make the book Triss by Brian Jacques an intriguing read. Triss is a squirrel slave at Riftgard, a kingdom of evil rats. Triss and two of her friends escape from Riftgard and Kurda, an evil princess who rules it. Kurda’s efforts to capture them are what drive the story plot onward. While they are playing cat and mouse, Scarum, a hare from a mountain who is looking for adventure, and Kurda show that they have the most recognizable individual personalities. Kurda is good at insulting others and does it often. She will make a mistake and blame it on someone else. She missed a tossed turnip moving during her sword practice and is it her fault? Oh no. Kurda’s accent makes her seem all the more evil. Kurda’s eyes blazed with anger at her mistake. “Stupid oaf! Ven I say trow {throw}, you trow dem proper. Trow high, vot do you tink I am? You t’ick {thick} mud brain bungle paws!” Scarum is my favorite for he gives you the most sense of “I know what he would do here.” Like most hares, where food is, Scarum is. He tells others that he is everything good there is to be, like a fearsome shark slayer sometimes and at other times he’s the son of a very wealthy family. “Wot wot’s” and “I think I’ll jolly well do that” and his growing appetite make him irresistible to laugh at. Even though Triss is one of the main characters, she does not show as much personality as the others. This novel is like our lives, just much smaller. It has similar concepts such as gravity, animals, and sun/moon, unlike Lord of the Rings where there is magic, huge evil creatures created, and different landforms. It’s simply the squirrels’ and otters’ perspective on their lives with normal problems such as big animals and predators and how they overcome them. They live in a great, huge, safe Redwall abbey with mostly peaceful creatures in it. This is essentially our world but in much earlier times, like King Arthur’s and Camelot’s day. Now we have large societies and countries, but it used to be tribes, roving bands, castles, and some empires fighting each other with bows, arrows, and swords and that is just this. Brian Jacques explored many ideas involving determination with each key character at various points in the story. At the beginning, Triss and her friends were captured and, in jail, did they get out after slaving at those bars? They could have figured they were going to a better place and just died. However, through persistence, they succeeded in escaping. Kurda showed fierce determination to recapture her slaves by bringing her best rats to capture. She did not care what happened to her rats. She was brave by doing what her father was petrified of. This novel is excellent, just like all his others in the Redwall series, but the personalities the author creates in this one just pull you in and make you a part of Redwall’s legend. Andrew Glick, 11Pekin, Illinois