Narrator Caitlin Davies reflects the terrible confusion of 18-year-old Zofia, who has recently been liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. She is haunted by memories of her younger brother, Abek, who may be her only family member still alive. Davies’s narration doesn’t hold back on emotions as the story reveals Zofia’s past hell, broken present, and future hopes. Dramatic musical interludes add to the power of Zofia’s attempts to remember what happened to her brother. At Foehrenwald, a displaced persons camp, Davies reflects Zofia’s awakening feelings, which are both positive and disturbing amid the chaos of the world around her. Davies takes us on a powerful journey at a singular time. The author reads an afterword documenting her process and recommending books she discovered while researching and writing. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Hesse writes with tenderness and insight about the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive and the ways we cobble together family with whatever we have. When the plot twists come, they are gut punches—some devastating, others offering hope.

★ 02/17/2020

“Lines. I am good at lines,” 18-year-old Zofia Lederman, who is Jewish, begins. She’s had to be: the Nazis’ brutal extermination of Europe’s Jews was perversely orderly and filled with rules. But Zofia is good at other things, too. Surviving, for one: after the war ends in 1945, she’s alive, largely because her skill at sewing made her of use. Keeping a promise, for another: her younger brother Abek might still be alive (she knows that the rest of their family is dead), and she’s intent on finding him, even though trauma and hope have combined to muddle her memories. Her journey takes her back to her family’s home in Poland, then to Foehrenwald, a displaced persons camp in Germany, where she meets other survivors of the war—some Jewish, some not—including the mysterious and compelling Josef, whose anger and passion Zofia finds compelling. Hesse (The War Outside) has written several YA novels that touch on WWII traumas, and this one shows her gift at coming at an oft-told story from a new angle, as well as her compelling language, characterization, and ability to fill a story with realistic details and tension. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown. (Apr.)

Praise for They Went Left:
A New York Times and IndieBound bestseller
A Sydney Taylor Honor Book
Edgar Award Nominee, Best Young Adult Mystery
An NPR Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Best Book of the Year
Booklist Editor’s Choice

"Hesse writes with tenderness and insight about the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive and the ways we cobble together family with whatever we have. When the plot twists come, they are gut punches—some devastating, others offering hope... Crucial."—New York Times Book Review

"beautifully tragic...an incredibly impressive novel about a timeframe and group of people that history often forgets. Their stories will stay with me forever."——Hypable

* "A heartbreaking and heartwarming story of survival, loss, and renewal. Sure to please a variety of readers; those interested in historical fiction, romance, and mystery will not be able to put this book down."—School Library Journal, starred review

* "Hesse again proves to be a master of verisimilitude, bringing the realities of existence in the immediate postwar period to visceral life through painstaking detail. Her beautifully realized, highly empathetic characters come to life, too, in the pages of this superbly crafted novel...like real life, there is heartbreaking sadness here but also hope that life, finally, will be whole and fine, A to Z."—Booklist, starred review

* "Hesse's meticulous research is evident on every page but never distracts from her propulsive plot. Combining history, romance and mystery, They Went Left is a heartbreaking yet hopeful story of what it takes to survive after trauma."—BookPage, starred review

* "Compelling."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Featuring factual locations and covering a period of time not often focused on, this is an excellent book to add to a Holocaust collection. ...This book would be valuable for all high schools and should be considered a must-purchase."

—School Library Connection, starred review

"A heartbreaking, gorgeously written story...The ending left me breathless and awed by its expression of enduring love."—Jewell Parker Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys

"Zofia's harrowing journey to find Abek and the fellow survivors she meets along the way will stay with the reader—particularly the echoes of the present evoked in a narrative of the past."—Refinery29

Select Praise for The War Outside:

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018
A 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick
A 2018 BCCB Bulletin Blue Ribbon Title
A 2019 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People


"Once again, Monica Hesse delivers an incredibly compelling and beautifully researched novel. The War Outside vividly brings readers into an underrepresented and dark period of American history. A must-read for fans of historical fiction."—Ruta Sepetys, #1 New York Times bestselling author

* "Superb.... A satisfying and bittersweet novel, perfect for those who enjoyed Markus Zusak's The Book Thief."—SLJ, starred review

"Monica Hesse takes a setting we think we understand and shifts it in an important way...a tightly plotted exploration of the consequences of fear."—The New York Times Book Review

"Timely...[Hesse] again uses a well-researched historical backdrop to tell a powerful coming-of-age story."—Washington Post

Praise for Girl in the Blue Coat:
The Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Mystery Novel 2017
A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens of 2016
An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2016
A Booklist Best Young Adult Book of 2016
A Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Selection 2017
A 2017 Indies Choice Awards Finalist for Best Young Adult Book
A YALSA 2017 Best Book for Young Adults
A 2017 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year
A 2017 Wyoming Soaring Eagle Book Award Nominee
A 2017 Washington, D.C. Capitol Choices List recommended title
A 2018 Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award Nominee
2018 All Iowa Young Adults Read

"A tapestry of guilt and acceptance, growing responsibility, and reluctant heroism, Hanneke's coming-of-age under heartbreaking circumstances is a jarring reminder of how war consumes and transforms the passions of ordinary life. Every devastating moment of this beautiful novel is both poignant and powerful, and every word feels true."—Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Black Dove, White Raven; Rose Under Fire; and the Printz Honor-winning Code Name Verity

"Taut and intelligent.... the historical setting is rendered the way only an expert can do it."—Washington Post

* "Riveting.... A gripping historical mystery."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ 03/01/2020

Gr 9 Up—A heartbreaking and heartwarming story of survival, loss, and renewal. The year is 1945, and Zofia finds herself in a hospital after being liberated from the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Poland. Suffering from memory loss in a hospital with other survivors, Zofia relies on the kindness of Dima, a Russian soldier, to get home and find her little brother, Abek. However, the home Zofia returns to is not one she recognizes. She quickly discovers that she needs to continue her search for Abek elsewhere. Alone, Zofia travels across borders to locate her brother; she doesn't know what happened to him or where he ended up, but she will not give up hope that he is alive and looking for her. This book starts where many World War II fiction ends: liberation. Readers travel with Zofia as she struggles to piece her life back together and discover what a family looks like now. Hesse's meticulous research of this moment in history creates an overwhelming sense of time and place. She intertwines historical fact with masterful storytelling that allows readers to embrace the characters and relate to them without forgetting the heaviness of the time period. VERDICT Highly recommended as a first purchase for both public and school libraries. Sure to please a variety of readers; those interested in historical fiction, romance, and mystery will not be able to put this book down.—Maryjean Riou, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, NJ

Narrator Caitlin Davies reflects the terrible confusion of 18-year-old Zofia, who has recently been liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. She is haunted by memories of her younger brother, Abek, who may be her only family member still alive. Davies’s narration doesn’t hold back on emotions as the story reveals Zofia’s past hell, broken present, and future hopes. Dramatic musical interludes add to the power of Zofia’s attempts to remember what happened to her brother. At Foehrenwald, a displaced persons camp, Davies reflects Zofia’s awakening feelings, which are both positive and disturbing amid the chaos of the world around her. Davies takes us on a powerful journey at a singular time. The author reads an afterword documenting her process and recommending books she discovered while researching and writing. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

2020-01-07
Well-researched historical fiction about what happened after the Holocaust ended.

So many books tackle experiences in the camps or the resistance movements, but what happened to the people liberated at the end of the war? Jewish Zofia, liberated from Gross-Rosen and then hospitalized, has trouble remembering things, like the last time she saw her younger brother, Abek, but she knows he is all she has left and that she needs to find him. Her journey takes her from Poland to Foehrenwald, a refugee camp in Germany. In Foehrenwald, Zofia begins to rediscover that life holds joy and opportunity. There, she connects with other people who have lost everything and yet have found purpose, including Zionists preparing for kibbutz life. She also meets Josef, to whom she is immediately attracted, and continues to follow leads to find Abek even as her patchy memory circles uncertainly around memories that hide something. Despite the well-researched setting and some genuinely touching emotional beats, the novel never really gels due to absences: intriguing side plots trail off, Zofia has little identity beyond her search for Abek, and the romantic subplot is needlessly convoluted. Judaism plays a minimal role in the Jewish characters' lives.

Notable for exploring an oft-forgotten moment but ultimately succeeds mostly as a history lesson. (note on history and research) (Historical fiction. 13-18)