For thirteen-year-old Judy Strand, summers in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, bustle with games of stickball played in the street, fun-filled outings to neighboring Coney Island, and her family’s yearly trip to the Catskill Mountains. But in July 1944, Judy’s carefree days and her innocence are shaken by a discovery: The man she’s always called Pa isn’t her real father. Even more shocking, Judy learns that the father she doesn’t remember was an alcoholic who abandoned his family. That’s why Judy’s mother emigrated to America from Norway. Now Judy feels jumbled inside: She’s angry at her mother for keeping the truth from her–and she’s suddenly awkward around Pa. Nothing her parents say soothes the hurt. At first, even the attentions of Jacob Jacobsen don’t make her feel any better. Judy likes Jacob; it’s just that his dad’s drinking binges hit too close to home. Ashamed, Judy doesn’t want anyone to find out her secret. But as misfortune befalls Jacob, Judy’s close friends, and her own family, Judy rallies to their side, and in the process recognizes that growing up encompasses forgiveness–of others and of herself. Grade 5-8-A fresh, engaging novel set during World War II in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, then an enclave for Norwegian immigrants. Judy, 13, uncovers an unsettling secret about her past as she sorts through some old family papers: the man she has called "Pa" all these years is actually her adoptive father. Her mother explains that her biological father was an alcoholic who abandoned the family in Norway, and that she had a baby sister who died of pneumonia on the boat trip to America. Stunned and confused, Judy feels betrayed by her mother and awkward around the man she has always considered her father. Being around Jacob Jacobsen, who is sweet on her, only makes things worse as Jacob's dad, another alcoholic, is a constant reminder of the painful past. When his mother requests that he accompany Judy and her family to the Catskills to keep him away from some neighborhood bullies, the protagonist is initially resentful, but by summer's end, the two teens develop a romantic attachment. Readers get a glimpse into Norwegian-American culture along with some realities of life on the home front: yellow and blue stars in front windows, food rationing, older brothers lost in battle, older sisters working to support the war effort, and, finally, when the Japanese surrender, dancing in the streets. Lurie beautifully captures an adolescent's voice and concerns as well as a nostalgic Brooklyn childhood filled with stickball, candy stores, and trips to Coney Island. Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Gr. 6-9. Like Kate Banks' Dillon Dillon [BKL S 15 02], this story is about a kid's anger and hurt when she discovers that she is adopted. Here the richly drawn setting is the Norwegian immigrant community in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944. Judy is in eighth grade when she first stumbles on the truth that her biological father was a drunk who abandoned his family back in Norway, and that beloved Pa adopted her after he married her mother in America. Woven in with her family secrets is her romance with her classmate Jacob, who has his own trauma at home (including an alcoholic dad), a parallel that makes it hard for Judy to let Jacob get too close to her. First-novelist Lurie does a great job of showing how Judy's hurt and anger make her act like a jerk. She resents her younger half-brother, withdraws from her parents, and tries to drive Jacob away. At the same time, her first-person narrative reveals how bad she feels about the terrible things she says to hurt those she loves. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “Lurie beautifully captures an adolescent’s voice and concerns as well as a nostalgic Brooklyn childhood filled with stickball, candy stores, and trips to Coney Island.”— School Library Journal “First-time novelist Lurie does a great job of showing how Judy’s hurt and anger make her act like a jerk. But at the same time, her first-person narrative reveals how bad she feels about the terrible things she says to hurt those she loves.”— Booklist For thirteen-year-old Judy Strand, summers in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, bustle with games of stickball played in the street, fun-filled outings to neighboring Coney Island, and her family s yearly trip to the Catskill Mountains. But in July 1944, Judy s carefree days and her innocence are shaken by a discovery: The man she s always called Pa isn t her real father. Even more shocking, Judy learns that the father she doesn t remember was an alcoholic who abandoned his family. That s why Judy s mother emigrated to America from Norway. Now Judy feels jumbled inside: She s angry at her mother for keeping the truth from her and she s suddenly awkward around Pa. Nothing her parents say soothes the hurt. At first, even the attentions of Jacob Jacobsen don t make her feel any bett