Finding Sophie [Paperback]

Irene N. Watts (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Selected by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association as one of the PSLA YA Top Forty Fiction Titles 2003

Nominated in the fiction category for the 2004/2005 Red Cedar Book Awards (British Columbia's Young Reader's Choice book award)


Sophie Mandel was only seven years old when she arrived in London on the first Kindertransport from Germany. She has grown up with a friend of her parents, a woman she calls Aunt Em, and despite the war and its deprivations, she has made a good life for herself in England with her foster mother. She has even stopped thinking about the parents she left behind. Now the war is over, and fourteen-year-old Sophie is faced with a terrible dilemma. Where does she belong?

In this, the third book about the characters introduced in Good-bye Marianne and Remember Me, Irene N. Watts explores the themes of friendship, family, and the nature of love. Finding Sophie is sure to become a favorite.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-In 1938, when Sophie Mandel was seven, she was put on a train in Germany and sent to her "Aunt Em" in London. Now, seven years later, the war is ending, and Sophie is terrified she will be sent back to the parents she barely remembers. This is the story of her 14th year, as she comes to terms with her past and with what her future must be. Watts gives readers a real sense of Sophie's early childhood in Germany, as well as her experience as a refugee in England. The thread of Sophie rediscovering the older girl who took care of her on the Kindertransport, and who truly understands her feelings, is worked into the story beautifully. Sophie's emotions are realistically portrayed, and she is a strong, sympathetic, yet imperfect character. Watts has captured the fear, pain, and hope of children who lived through this experience. Most young people know very little about the Kindertransport, and this lovely story will open their eyes while introducing them to a memorable young woman who will remain in their thoughts. This companion book to Good-bye Marianne (1998) and Remember Me (2000, both Tundra) stands completely on its own, although readers of the first two are likely to request it. Libraries looking for historical fiction on World War II, or with Jewish protagonists, will want to add this to their collections.
Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. In a companion piece to Good-Bye, Marianne (1998) and Remember Me (2000), Watts draws on her childhood experience in the Kindertransport rescue operation to tell a moving, unsentimental story of a German Jewish child sent by her parents to Britain to escape the Nazis. Now World War II is ending, and 13-year-old Sophie can't bear that she might have to leave "real" life in her happy London home, where she has lived with her kind aunt Em for seven years. Will Sophie have to return to the parents who are practically strangers? Haunted by the shocking photos of the liberated camps, she waits for news that her family is safe, at the same time dreading the thought of reunion and trying to block out the memories of why and how they sent her away from Berlin. With searing honesty, Watts stays true to the young girl's experience. Her best friend lectures her about biting her nails, even as Sophie gets news of her mother's death in an air raid. The mixture of anger and guilt, hope and dread brings the displacement story home. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books (August 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887766137
• ISBN-13: 978-0887766138
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.3 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Holocaust
  • #84 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Holocaust

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