First published 2003
Lily heads to Rockaway Beach for the summer of 1944, but this year feels different. Her father has shipped out to fight in Europe, and the war casts shadows even over the familiar seaside town. When Lily meets Albert, a young Hungarian refugee who has escaped Nazi-occupied Europe, their friendship opens her eyes to the real cost of the conflict raging across the ocean. Albert carries his own painful secrets about the family he left behind, while Lily struggles with her father's absence and her own feelings of helplessness. As the summer unfolds, both children must confront hard truths about loss, survival, and what it means to be brave when the world seems to be falling apart. Their bond becomes a lifeline in a time when nothing feels certain.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, world-war-ii, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Europe, Rockaway Beach
Period: 1944
200 pages · Paperback · Thorndike Press