From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. The author of Invisible Chains [BKL Jl 00] offers another novel set at the Migdal Binoh School for Orthodox Jewish girls. The year is 1948, and Nechy Horowitz's mother has returned to London to be reunited with her daughter. Unfortunately, Mother's war experiences have left many scars, and she is not yet able to care for Nechy. In addition, the cottage next door to the school has been sold to a strange Scottish couple, the Campbells. Mr. Campbell is polite to the school's headmistress, Mrs. Langfeld, but his arrival in the neighborhood coincides with a series of troubling events, including visits from school inspectors, the discovery of an old German bomb, and the appearance of anti-Semitic slogans painted on the school fence. Children who are not religiously observant may have trouble identifying with the strict code of conduct at the school, but Vogiel's cast feels comfortable and grows more so as the story evolves. The intrepid Mrs. Langfeld, who solves the mystery without causing a scandal among her students' parents, is particularly appealing. For larger collections. Kay Weisman
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Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
