Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Schultz
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Emotional story of Jewish refugee children continues.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Stephie and her sister Nellie's parents have sent their daughters away from their home in Nazi-occupied Vienna to live with foster parents on an island off the coast of Sweden. Stephie, who is 13, has just completed the equivalent of elementary school, and her foster parents have arranged for her to go to grammar school (high school) in Goteborg on the mainland, where she will rent a room from acquaintances. In Goteborg, Stephanie falls in love for the first time and she makes close friends, but she also struggles with anti-Semitism, peer pressure, and concern for her parents back home in Vienna.
Is It Any Good?
THE LILY POND is a very nice, age-appropriate book about World War II for middle graders. Because the hardships Stephie's parents endure in Vienna are related by her parents, they're tempered in just the way a parent would break news to a child. Stephie is an intelligent, sensitive character with a rich inner world, and any preteen who's felt like a fish out of water will relate to her feelings of insecurity and longing for her parents.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what Stephie's life is like away from her parents. Do you think her mom and dad did the right thing by sending Stephie and Nellie to Sweden?
What do you think about the way Sven's parents treat Stephie, and why do you think it makes her so angry?
Why does Stephie keep Alice's secrets? What would you do if you were in her situation?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings ) , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Delacorte Press
- Publication date : October 11, 2011
- Number of pages : 224
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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