Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
2 teens - 2 continents - 2 centuries - 1 family
Dad has been a truck driver ever since Juliana can remember, away for days at a time, and the gulf between them has grown. It seems irreparable now, when Dad doesn't understand why Juliana's terrified about the fallout of a major faux pas on her first day at her new dance studio. In one last attempt to connect with her, Dad opens up about his hidden past. Juliana isn't sure it's enough to forgive her father for missing so much of her life.
Tata's been gone for almost two months now and the Schuhmachers haven't heard from him yet. While helping cousin Susi with wedding preparations, Elisabeth stumbles upon a recent letter from Tata to his brother, Susi's father, a man Mammi despises. He hasn't found work in America yet and asks his brother not to say anything to Mammi. Elisabeth doesn't know if she can obey his request.
Synopsis
Empathy is harder than it looks.
After forgetting her tap shoes at her first class in a new dance studio, Juliana worries she's missed her only chance at making friends. Distraught, she tells her dad how she's feeling. When he ignorantly dismisses her concern as always, the years of absence his truck driving has caused come crashing down on them, threatening to destroy any desire Juliana has of forgiving her father.
Expecting to find solace in Opa, Juliana is shocked when her grandfather takes Dad's side: to Opa, Juliana's dad is worlds better than Georg, a cousin long passed, who couldn't support his family. But Juliana soon suspects that Opa doesn't know everything.
A year has passed since the war ended, and Georg is still a shell of a human being. He says very little and succumbs to inexplicable fits. Everyone ridicules him, and even Elisabeth is frightened of him. But when she has to help with wedding preparations for one of Georg's sisters, Elisabeth begins to believe that there's more to her cousin's fits and visions than others claim.
In Between Worlds 2: The Distance, Juliana and Elisabeth find that empathy to understand those they misunderstand the most needs more courage than they believe they have.
Synopsis
How can family rifts be healed when problems from the past keeps pulling them apart? Moving to Kitchener hasn't been an easy transition for Juliana. So, when Juliana's first dance practice at her new studio goes horribly wrong and her dad dismisses her feelings, Juliana snaps, unleashing years of resentment over his job as a truck driver. With no one to talk to, Juliana turns to the only thing that has given her comfort in Kitchener: her great-grandmother's sketchbook.
Elisabeth needs her father now more than ever: a wedding on his side of the family means she must spend time with his hateful family members without him there to protect her. But his cousin Georg is different. Not haughty like the others, he suffers from frightening nightmares from the war. Everyone fears Georg, but the more Elisabeth gets to know him, the more she believes Georg's fits are not what others claim them to be.
As Juliana and Elisabeth struggle with the conflicts in their families, they come closer to understanding the long-held pain that caused them. With a little empathy and understanding, could both girls find a way to close the distance between them and their family members before their pain becomes a permanent scar on their relationships?
The Distance is the second book in Lori Wolf-Heffner's contemporary/historical series, Between Worlds. If you love history, the arts, and family ties, pick up a copy of The Distance and enjoy a story that spans generations.