The Stranger Within Sarah Stein

by Thane Rosenbaum

Twelve-year-old Sarah Stein loves life in New York. Who wouldn’t, growing up in a cool TriBeCa loft with an artist dad and a chocolate-maker mom, rollerblading in Central Park, hanging out with friends? That is, until the day her parents tell her they’re divorcing. Forced to shuttle each day by bicycle between their separate residences on either side of the Brooklyn Bridge, Sarah soon discovers that the parents she thought she knew are as opposite as their new homes. She takes on a bizarrely split identity―one day she’s the daughter of the prim, social-climbing chocolatier, the next the streetwise, smart-aleck child of the downtown abstract painter. Sarah Stein becomes a stranger to herself. But that’s not the only thing that’s strange. Colliding with the cart of a homeless man one day while pedaling across the bridge, Sarah tumbles through a magical portal and into an upside-down world of double identities and second chances. Through her friendship with the homeless Clarence Wind, a disgraced fireman missing since 9/11, and the love of her grandmother, a wise Holocaust survivor with her own hidden past, Sarah unlocks the mysteries behind the strangeness that she and Clarence share. In this witty, wonder-filled novel about broken homes and disconnected lives, with the majestic Brooklyn Bridge as backdrop and the legacies of the Holocaust and the Twin Towers as backstory, Sarah Stein’s adventures prove both heartbreaking and heartwarming, an enchantment for readers of all ages.

Genres: Young Adult

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Linda Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the main characters, and how they interacted together even with the horror of the Nazi's evil set in the background. There was so much mystery on how the man figured in the story. Who was he really and what did he really want with this YOUNG girl ? Questions that worried Sarah as well !
The title alone is what drew me in because I do think there is some Jewish heritage in my background.
The ending was also something mysterious because what happens from here on ?
It ended too soon for me without being all in one book BUT I am glad that I read it !

[Emily W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant. Sarah Stein is just a street smart, 12 year old, New Yorker. Her father is famous painter Noah Stein. Her mother is renowned chocolatier Carly Stein, owner of Carly Cocoa's Chocolate Factory. Sarah can see the signs of her parents slowly separating. No more hugs, kisses, or held hands. But nothing could have prepared her for the divorce. Her mother is moving across the Brooklyn Bridge. Sarah is deeply saddened, knowing that there are only two things holding her parents together: her, and the bridge that she must bike across to go between the two apartments. One day, when riding across the bridge, her bike crashes. She wakes up to a scary, homeless man with an eye patch over one eye. The man seems to know who she is, which scares her even more. She tries to run and stumbles upon the man, Clarence Wind's, quarters. It is tucked inside of the bridge. She realizes that this "portal" is directly between her parents' houses. After this, the two become friends. Sarah's parents think that she is fine, but she slowly deteriorates. She seems to develop bi-polar disorder. She hides this for a long time, but they eventually find out, and all is happy. But other things happen, too. She slowly uncovers the truth about Wind, and his quite surprised. Basically, this book is the strangest book I've ever read. Enjoy!

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it was a quick read I loved the story and the lessons it taught. I think that this book was beautifully written and really captured my heart. I felt, I could really relate to some parts of it. I hope that this author will write more books like this one. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for something light to read, but truly engaging.

[Heidi Busch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very odd book. Brief reminders of Alice in Wonderland along with 9/11, a divorce, and remembrances of the Holocaust. There seemed to be too much going on and then things just sped up so quickly at the end that I wasn't really sure if I had finished it or not.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is interesting on so many levels, children in divorce, 9/11, Holocaust, family relationships. It was a quick read and a thinker at times.