Deep Sea

Review for the English edition: ‘The third installment in a proposed quartet of books about Stephie’s experiences as a Jewish refugee in Sweden during World War II that began with Batchelder-winning Faraway Island (2009) and honor book The Lily Pond (2011). Now Stephie is 16, and her world has become increasingly complex; even her 10-year-old sister, Nellie, finds that it isn’t easy to negotiate two worlds. The contrast between their Jewish heritage and faith with the Pentecostal Christianity of their hosts is challenging, as is finding funds for high school. Meeting other Jewish refugees awakens Stephie to the broader ethical aspects of the war, and messages from her parents in Theresienstadt help her understand the horrors of the Holocaust. Her friend Vera’s sexual entanglements make her uneasy, and Stephie is frighteningly vulnerable. Her friend May’s family and Miss Björk, her teacher, come to the island for the summer, allowing readers to meet Miss Björk’s partner, Janice, an Englishwoman with a frivolous bent. The intricacy of the issues examined here are all built on events and characters introduced in the previous books, making for a rich blend of emotional truths presented in relatively few pages—but readers need to be familiar with those earlier titles to appreciate them.Readers who have come to love Stephie will be glad to see her world expand.’ (Historical fiction. 12-16)