Sixteen-year-old Noa is an outcast after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. In a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.
Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid, a Jewess in hiding with the circus. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
If you are interested in other books on the topic of friendship in the time of war, I would recommend the following books in the TAHS library:
Fiction:
- Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
- Awards and Honors
- 2013 Michael L. Printz Honor Book
- Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel
- 2013 Golden Kite Honor Book
- Carnegie Medal Shortlist
- Awards and Honors
- Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
- Awards and Honors
- 2013 American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award
- Awards and Honors
- Black Dove, White Raven by Elizathe Wein
- Sworn Enemies by Carol Matas
- Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn (translated by Jeffrey Shandler)
- Friedrich – Hans Peter Richter
- Salt to the Sea – Ruta Sepetys
- Awards and Honors
- 2017 YALSA Top Ten Beth Fiction for Young Adults
- 2017 Virginia Readers' Choice (High School)
- Awards and Honors