A Faraway Island

By Annika Thor, Linda Schenck (Translator)

Book #1 in the Faraway Island series

Two sisters escape to Sweden during WWII, facing isolation and uncertainty about their family's fate.

4.0/5 Goodreads · 3,819 ratings

256 pages· 53,969 words· Est. 7.5 hour read

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Bookroo's summary

In 1939, sisters Stephie and Nellie flee Vienna for Sweden, escaping the Nazis. While Nellie adapts quickly, Stephie struggles with isolation on a harsh island and a stern foster mother. As war rages on, Stephie faces hostility at school and worries about her parents' safety. Will she ever reunite with her family, or remain stranded in a foreign land? Discover the resilience and hope that guide her journey.

From the publisher

Two Jewish sister leave Austria during WWII/Holocaust and find refuge in Sweden. It’s the summer of 1939. Two Jewish sisters from Vienna–12-year-old Stephie Steiner and seven-year-old Nellie–are sent to Sweden to escape the Nazis. They expect to stay there six months, until their parents can flee to Amsterdam; then all four will go to America. But as the world war intensifies, the girls remain, each with her own host family, on a rugged island off the western coast of Sweden.Nellie quickly settles in to her new surroundings. Not so for Stephie, who finds it hard to adapt; she feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who’s as unforgiving as the island itself. It’s no wonder Stephie doesn’t let on that the most popular girl at school becomes her bitter enemy, or that she endures the wounding slights of certain villagers. Her main worry, though, is her parents–and whether she will ever see them again.