Synopses & Reviews
Anya Rosen and her family have left their home in Odessa for Shanghai, believing that China will be a safe haven from Hitlers forces. At first, Anyas life in the Jewish Quarter of Shanghai is privileged and relatively carefree: she has crushes on boys, fights with her mother, and longs to defy expectations just like her hero, Amelia Earhart.
Then Anya finds a baby—a newborn abandoned on the street. Amelia Earhart goes missing. And it becomes dangerously clear that no place is safe—not for Jewish families like the Rosens, not for Shanghais poor, not for adventurous women pilots.
Based on a true story, here is a rich, transcendent novel about a little-known time in Holocaust history.
Review
“Based on the authors life, it is a book with history, drama, and good writing.”--Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews
"The characters, and most notably Anya, are well crafted and believable.” --BCCB
“A delightfully textured…glimpse at a little-remembered period of Jewish history.”--Kirkus Reviews
“An important addition to the literature about WWII refugees.”--Booklist
Synopsis
In 1937, the privileged and relatively carefee life of a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, whose family emigrated from Odessa, Ukraine, to Shanghai, China, comes to an end when she finds an abandoned baby, her hero, Amelia Earhart, goes missing, and war breaks out with Japan. Based on the author's family history.
Synopsis
Based on a true story, this novel follows a young Jewish girl and her family during World War II as they flee from their home in Odessa to Shanghai.
About the Author
ANDREA ALBAN is the author of several picture books, including The Happiness Tree for Feiwel and Friends, as well as Mother's Nature: Timeless Wisdom for the Journey into Motherhood and other adult inspirational books written under the name Andrea Alban Gosline. Anya's War is her first novel, and based on her own family's experiences during WWII. Andrea lives in San Francisco.