The Journey Back Sequel to the Newbery Honor Book the Upstairs Room
After spending three years hiding from the Nazis, a Jewish family is reunited and begins the job of rebuilding their country and family. Reiss describes her efforts to be reunited with her family & rebuild their lives. This a moving story that is even more emotional because it is true. How does it feel to leave the people you've grown to love -- and go back to a family you no longer know? Holland, 1945 -- World War II has finally ended. For thirteen-year-old Annie de Leeuw and her sister Sini, almost three years of hiding from the Germans in the upstairs room of a remote farmhouse have have also ended. Saying good-bye to the courageous family who hid them is very difficult. And Annie finds that being home again isn't easy either. Her mother is dead; her father, distant and distracted. Sini is out dancing with the soldiers every night, trying to make up for lost time, and Annie's oldest sister, Rachel, has become a Christian. Soon Annie has another problem -- getting used to a new stepmother she cannot seem to please. Annie learns that though the fighting is over, some of the wounds of the war still remain. Her old home is gone. Now she must build a new life for herself.