Publishers Weekly
★ 10/02/2023
In Fox’s historical fantasy debut, set in contemporary Stockholm, a lonely girl must help strangers from the past find their way back to their time. Eleven-year-old Kara Lukas, an only child being raised by a single mother absorbed in her work, relies on her elderly star-gazing grandfather for companionship. She soon notices odd details in her community and its surrounding woods, such as a snow angel with no footprints nearby and a coin from 1942 marked with a swastika. The clues lead her to Rebecca, a Jewish teen hiding with her younger brother Samuel on an island in the middle of frozen Lake Mälaren that Kara comes to realize is a “gateway to another time, another place.” She also learns that the siblings are from 1944 and they’re hiding from Nazis. The youths’ friendship and Kara’s family relationships are sensitively depicted, and the pervasive ambiance of the dark Swedish winter is captivating. Through Kara’s understated voice and the novel’s thrilling, quietly building suspense, Fox delivers a thoughtful meditation on the expansiveness of time, melded with Holocaust history and a solitary girl’s personal growth, making for an enthralling read. Major characters cue as white. Ages 8–12. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Sky Over Rebecca “Fox crafts a spectacular novel that explores family and friendship—and their importance throughout history and across time . . . . A great read for those intrigued by a unique, genre-mixing exploration of the era and friendship.”—School Library Journal "The exquisitely crafted story feels like gazing into a snow globe, focused on a small slice of one momentous winter. Spare, direct language captures the bleakness of the freezing natural setting and deep loneliness, but it also summons the life-giving warmth of new friendships and tendrils of hope. Readers are quietly given a real sense of danger and high stakes of the situation, and though the premise involves mind-bending time slips and eerie occurrences, it’s also gorgeously grounded in the tender relationships between family members and new friends. An edifying exploration of human connection and compassion.”—Booklist “[An] evocative debut . . . . Fox’s spare yet lyrical prose is well-suited to The Sky Over Rebecca’s haunting, austere setting and atmosphere. The novel’s stylistic restraint and vividly drawn characters will intrigue young readers and help them easily follow narrative shifts between the horrifying, wartorn past and the less deadly but still frightening present . . . . Fox introduces the terror of persecution in an accessible manner for young readers who may be reading about the Holocaust for the first time. A poignant final twist leads to a resonant conclusion in this memorable first novel.”—Book Page STARRED Review "Through Kara’s understated voice and the novel’s thrilling, quietly building suspense, Fox delivers a thoughtful meditation on the expansiveness of time, melded with Holocaust history and a solitary girl’s personal growth, making for an enthralling read."—Publisher's Weekly, STARRED REVIEW “[an] uplifting story of compassion and courage.” —The Daily Express “A highly atmospheric time-slip adventure with resonant themes of loneliness and courage.” —Fiona Noble, The Bookseller “A sensitively written time-slip debut from an exciting new voice in children's fiction.” —Waterstones
“A time-travel story filled with friendship and compassion.”—Kirkus Reviews
Winner of the 2019 Bath Children's Novel Award
School Library Journal
11/01/2023
Gr 4–7—This magical book grabs readers from the start as a young girl learns the fantastical possibilities of faith, love, and relationships. The novel opens with Kara, who spends much of her time alone, witnessing unusual occurrences during the long, cold winter in Stockholm. Strange things start happening, like footprints in the snow with no owner. While investigating these oddities, Kara discovers Rebecca and her brother Sam, two lost children who just might be World War II refugees, lost in time—or are they? Kara has to confront Lars, whose actions toward her new friends lead her to step up and be brave. Fox crafts a spectacular novel that explores family and friendship—and their importance throughout history and across time: "Time is … a frozen river on which we walk. But the layer of ice that separates us from the past is paper thin." Water as metaphor threads the multiple genres together into a cohesive result. Short sentences, paragraphs, and chapters enhance the depth and pace of this engaging story. VERDICT A great read for those intrigued by a unique, genre-mixing exploration of the era and friendship.—Jennifer Seebauer,
Kirkus Reviews
2023-09-22
Kara Lukas, a contemporary Stockholm girl without friends, spends her time alone or with her beloved grandfather, who is enthusiastic about astronomy.
Kara lives with her caring, hardworking single mom; her father left when she was a baby. One day, observant Kara notices a strange snow angel, one without any footsteps around it. Later, she finds a coin in the snow, stamped with a swastika and the date 1942. Then, a third odd thing happens: She meets the coin’s owner, a resourceful Jewish girl named Rebecca who’s trying to escape the Nazis with her younger brother, Samuel, who has a disability and cannot walk. For the siblings, it’s 1944, and they have managed to survive on an island in the middle of a frozen lake that Kara can only see when Rebecca’s hand touches her bare skin. The three children begin a relationship that crosses the decades dividing their existences. Kara has an empathetic desire to help her two new friends, and she has the help of Lars, a bully who eventually becomes a friend. The book provides limited information about the Holocaust, and some readers may not fully understand the overall situation. Kara’s abilities to enter the past, interact with the siblings, and even bring Lars with her are hazily explained, but her compassion and mature understanding are admirable, and readers will want to engage with her.
A time-travel story filled with friendship and compassion. (Fiction. 9-12)
