A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thor, Annika. 2009. A FARAWAY ISLAND. Trans. by Linda Schenck. New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385736176
B. SUMMARY
A Faraway Island is a work of historical fiction written in Swedish by Annika Thor and translated by Linda Schenck. The setting is the early days of World War II when the persecution of Jews by the Nazi government in Germany was escalating and affecting Jews elsewhere in Europe. Against this backdrop, 12-year-old Stephie Steiner and her 7-year-old sister Nellie find themselves being part of a group of 500 Jewish children who have been granted asylum in Sweden. The sisters leave behind their beloved parents who are forced to stay behind in Vienna, Austria as they try to obtain visas that will enable the entire family to emigrate to the United States.
Upon arrival in Sweden, Stephie and Nellie find themselves separated and sent to live with two different foster families. Stephie is assigned to a cold and stern woman, Marta who is also a devout Christian. Nellie is fortunate as she is assigned to a kind woman, Alma (a cousin of Marta’s) and blends in easily with her foster family. Stephie meanwhile struggles to assimilate, finding the Swedish language alien and difficult to master compared to her native German, whilst younger sister Nellie takes to the language easily. It is Stephie’s struggles that is the focus of the story, exploring her sense of alienation, sadness, frustration, and desire to be reunited with her parents and sister. Stephie faces difficulties in making new friends, partly because of the language barrier, but also because there are girls at Stephie’s new school that do not take too kindly to Stephie and make life difficult for her.
It takes a long time for Stephie to come to grips with her new situation and she slowly begins to adapt to life in the small fishing village in Sweden. She discovers a gentler side to her foster mother, proves to be a keen learner at school, and even makes a new friend. As time passes, Stephie realizes that her parents are trapped without any means of escaping their difficult situation in Nazi-controlled Vienna, and she begins to understand that Sweden may prove not just to be a temporary refuge, but a long-term home for her and Nellie.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Both Stephie and Nellie are credibly drawn characters that the reader, especially young children and pre-teens/teenagers will easily relate to. Young Nellie quickly adapts to her new life, and assimilates easily, reminiscent of the coping mechanisms of young children. Stephie on the other hand, being older, finds it more difficult adapting to her new circumstances. She finds her foster mother cold and aloof, and faces an even harder time at school where the prejudiced Sylvia and a few other girls bully her, though she handles this quite well. The cliquish climate at Stephie’s school is similar to what many adolescents experience at school today and this should strike a chord with adolescent readers.
The story is compelling and credibly plotted. Readers are given sufficient background information as to the circumstances that compelled the sisters to be sent to Sweden, but the story leaves out the more gruesome details regarding the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis. The only part of the story that alludes to the violence during that period is Stephie’s recollections of her dog Mimi being shot by the Nazis. Considering the young target audience of this book, the omission of more horrific details is apt.
The setting for this story is Sweden during the beginning of World War Two, i.e. the year 1939. The author recreates the feel of the period quite well, with faithful descriptions of the little island in Sweden where Stephie and Nellie live, the simple life in the village which is contrasted with the sisters’ lavish lifestyle prior to the Nazi takeover, and also the descriptions of daily life which is period authentic.
The novel does seem to end rather abruptly on an ambiguous note. There is no resolution that tells readers the fate of Stephie and Nellie’s parents. Though this makes the novel feel incomplete, it is mentioned at the back of the book that this is the first of a four-part series featuring the Steiner sisters.
This historical novel has several underlying themes, such as the themes of alienation, adolescent angst, coping, prejudice, etc. and these are themes that are universal and relevant even in present times. As such, readers today will find much to empathize and identify with even though this story was set in 1939. As a translated work, it is hard to comment on the author’s style of writing, but the translator does a good job of remaining true to the author’s original voice. In the author’s note at the back of the novel, the author states that though the novel is a piece of historical fiction, the story is in part derived from real life characters and the author’s own experiences of growing up Jewish in Sweden. The story is written in third person, which is justified by the author as being necessary because she feels strongly that “stories in the ‘I’ form should be told by people who really had the firsthand experience – the Holocaust survivors.” It is this attention to detail that makes A Faraway Island a compelling historical novel.
D. AWARDS/ REVIEW EXCERPT (S)
The Batchelder Award (2010)
School Library Journal: “Children will readily empathize with Stephie's courage. Both sisters are well-drawn, likable characters. This is the first of four books Thor has written about the two girls. It is an excellent companion to Lois Lowry's Number the Stars (Houghton, 1989), Kit Pearson's The Sky Is Falling (Viking, 1990), and Olga Levy Drucker's Kindertransport (Holt, 1995).”
Kirkus Reviews: “Straightforwardly told in the present tense and easier for tender hearts than the brutal stories of concentration camps, this still conveys the reality of war and the suffering of those displaced by it.”
E.CONNECTIONS
*Since this story is based on the war-time experiences of two young Jewish girls against the backdrop of WW II, teachers and librarians can invite guest speakers who are Holocaust survivors to come to the class/school/library and speak about their wartime experiences.
*This book can be part of a Language Arts activity where students can be asked to respond to one of the novel’s main themes, e.g. write a response (in the form of a diary entry, narrative essay, letter, etc.) on the theme of prejudice.
*The story of Stephie and Nellie’s experiences can be brought to life through readers theater.
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