Kate Albus

I heard this middle-grade novel about WWII evacuees discussed on a podcast recently, and it sounded worth a go. I absolutely loved it. It's sweet but not overly so, and the dangers, perils, and hardships that face William, Edmund, and Anna, three bookish orphaned siblings, as they are sent away from London to the countryside just before the height of the Blitz are not shied away from. There's a lot here about how the library and their love of stories got them through (which made me snuggle show more happily into the book), as well as run-ins with unkind (or simply overburdened) adults who don't quite understand them. The children have hidden the fact that they're orphans and are hoping that one of their billets will turn out to contain a family that will want to keep them forever. The older children (the boys) in particular do some growing up that is pleasant to watch and not preachy. And of course there is one really good adult (who is the most good primarily because she understands these particular children, not because she is actually any better than most of the other adults in the story, and I loved that bit), and of course things work out as they should in the end. Recommended. show less

It's 1944. Dory Byrnes lives in New York City with her brothers Fish and Pike. Her mother is dead, and her Pops has gone to war, so the three siblings are supposed to look out for each other and listen to Fish, who's 17. 12-year-old Dory finds this hard at times, and the siblings get in a few scrapes, which leads to their new landlord reporting them to Child Protective Services. The siblings are afraid that they'll be sent to orphanages, until Dory makes a discovery. She learns that the show more third, fourth, and fifth floors of Caputo's, the restaurant where Pops arranged for the kids to get a meal once a week, are closed off, accessible only by an ancient dumbwaiter that nobody has used in upwards of thirty years. When Dory sneaks in one night, she's hoping to find treasure. Instead, she finds an abandoned hotel, which becomes the Byrnes kids' sanctuary. But when the letters from Pops stop coming, they start to wonder what will become of them.

There are lots of books about World War II for kids, but few about the US home front. This one is delightfully Old New York, with all the character and bustle of the city. I did think it glossed over the difficulties of getting in and out of the abandoned hotel, but on the other hand, what kid wouldn't love finding a secret hideout and outsmarting mean adults like Dory did? There's also lots of complicated growing-up emotions that are portrayed so very well. This book isn't quite as heartwarming as A Place to Hang the Moon, but it's all kinds of charming. show less

This middle grade, historical fiction is a debut gem by Kate Albus. Three siblings are sent to the countryside at the beginning of the London Blitz—but no one knows they're orphans. They were raised by a cold-hearted grandmother after their parents died, and now she's deceased, too, leaving no other relatives and no one named in their grandmother's will to raise them. Since so many other children are being sent away from the city, the solicitor of the estate suggests the "preposterous show more plan" of having them join a group of evacuees and look for a family who might take them in forever, but without revealing their wealth.

The children face hardships with resilience, and often with humor, but each in their own way as 12-year-old William, 11-year-old Edmund, and 9-year-old Anna have distinct personalities. But what all three want most is just for someone to love them. Sounds a bit sappy when I say it, but Albus has written authentic dialogue and scenes true to the period.

Happily adding this to our grade 4/5 school library, but I'd encourage it as an adult read also. We all deserve to have someone in our lives who thinks we hang the moon. show less

Twelve-year-old Dory confides in "Libby," the Statue of Liberty, while her Pop is away in the war and she is scrabbling together a normal-ish existence with her 17-year-old brother Fish and their younger brother, Pike. When their old, kind landlord dies and is replaced by a kid-hating grump, it's Dory who finds a safe place for them to go: the upstairs floors of Mr. Caputo's seafood restaurant, which used to be an old hotel, and which are accessible only via an old dumbwaiter.

Despite the show more fact that Fish is nominally in charge, it's Dory who's the problem-solver (and the risk-taker), the brave one who gets them out of scrapes and tells lies when necessary. Their worry about their Pop is constant, but there are light moments throughout too, like a visit to the Empire State Building and one to Coney Island. Other than the new landlord, most neighbors on the Lower East Side are kind, and help the Byrnes out by providing food, newspapers, information, and in one case, impersonation. The Byrnes experience grief by proxy (their friends Vincent and Irene's family gets a dreaded Western Union telegram), but ultimately, their pop comes home.

Equally good as A Place to Hang the Moon (also featuring three children, set during WWII, but a few years earlier, and on the other side of the pond). show less