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Isabel's War
In a stunning new novel completed just before her death in 2013, award-winning author Lila Perl introduces us to Isabel Brandt, a French-phrase-dropping twelve-year-old New Yorker who's more interested in boys and bobbing her nose than the distant war across the Pacific—the one her parents keep reminding her to care more about. Things change when Helga, the beautiful niece of her parent's best friends, comes to live with Isabel and her family. Helga is everything Isabel's not—cool, blonde, and vaguely aloof. She's also a German war refugee, with a past that gives a growing Isabel something more important to think about than boys and her own looks. Set in the Bronx during World War II, Isabel's War is a beautiful evocation of New York in the 1940s and of a girl's growing awareness of the world around her.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 29, 2022
3.5 stars
Good depiction of life on the home front during WW2. I think Isabel’s attitude toward the war was probably pretty typical of most pre-teens at that time. They heard it discussed everywhere, had relatives and friends away fighting in it, and were expected to do their part by rationing and collecting for the war effort. After the initial patriotic rush wore off after December 7, they became weary of it all. There was no CNN to give headlines 24-7, so the events seemed very far removed. When Helga, a Kindertransport refugee, comes to live with Isabel’s family, horrible events taking place in Europe begin to hit much closer to home.
I would recommend this for middle-grade readers who are beginning to learn about WW2. Personally, I wish this book had a different cover; Isabel is twelve, but the young women in the picture is much older.
Good depiction of life on the home front during WW2. I think Isabel’s attitude toward the war was probably pretty typical of most pre-teens at that time. They heard it discussed everywhere, had relatives and friends away fighting in it, and were expected to do their part by rationing and collecting for the war effort. After the initial patriotic rush wore off after December 7, they became weary of it all. There was no CNN to give headlines 24-7, so the events seemed very far removed. When Helga, a Kindertransport refugee, comes to live with Isabel’s family, horrible events taking place in Europe begin to hit much closer to home.
I would recommend this for middle-grade readers who are beginning to learn about WW2. Personally, I wish this book had a different cover; Isabel is twelve, but the young women in the picture is much older.
October 7, 2014
A starred review from Publishers Weekly:
“Published posthumously, Perl’s moving WWII novel set in the Bronx traces a Jewish girl’s growing awareness of the atrocities occurring overseas. At first, 12-year-old Isabel views the war as an inconvenience, bemoaning new rationing rules and the growing shortages of luxury items. Similarly, she resents the arrival of Helga, a beautiful German refugee with “a swanlike neck, and luminous gray-green eyes,” who ends up living with Isabel’s family when Helga’s American guardian turns ill. But as Isabel gleans bits of information about Helga’s horrific experiences in Germany and in England, where she was delivered as part of the Kindertransport, Isabel’s heart gradually softens. Now her problem is getting others to believe Helga’s tales and persuading Helga that she is not to blame for what her family suffered. This coming-of-age story offers an authentic glimpse of the 1940s American war effort and corresponding sentiments while introducing a realistically flawed heroine whose well-meaning efforts sometimes backfire. A revelation about Helga’s past and the mystery of what happened to her immediate family members will whet appetites for the novel’s completed sequel.”
“Published posthumously, Perl’s moving WWII novel set in the Bronx traces a Jewish girl’s growing awareness of the atrocities occurring overseas. At first, 12-year-old Isabel views the war as an inconvenience, bemoaning new rationing rules and the growing shortages of luxury items. Similarly, she resents the arrival of Helga, a beautiful German refugee with “a swanlike neck, and luminous gray-green eyes,” who ends up living with Isabel’s family when Helga’s American guardian turns ill. But as Isabel gleans bits of information about Helga’s horrific experiences in Germany and in England, where she was delivered as part of the Kindertransport, Isabel’s heart gradually softens. Now her problem is getting others to believe Helga’s tales and persuading Helga that she is not to blame for what her family suffered. This coming-of-age story offers an authentic glimpse of the 1940s American war effort and corresponding sentiments while introducing a realistically flawed heroine whose well-meaning efforts sometimes backfire. A revelation about Helga’s past and the mystery of what happened to her immediate family members will whet appetites for the novel’s completed sequel.”
January 21, 2018
This book was a pleasant read. However, the state of sophistication was varied through out the book and thus the narration was very confusing. Also, I feel that the ending is quite abrupt and if Lila Perl could have written it longer and taken more time, I’m sure it would have been a five-star read.
March 10, 2015
Isabel's War Book Review An interesting read and a quick one. Not exactly what I was hoping for but it is a good coming of age novel for younger children to read about.
Isabel's life changes when her brother decides to go off an join the army and a Jewish girl, Helga moves in. Learning of what is really going on in Germany and at the concentration camps Isabel starts to see life in a different way.
There is quite a twist that I definitely did not see coming. So I definitely appreciated that. Isabel is (supposed to be) an obnoxious 11 year old. But that's the point of the story.
Again, not a favorite of mine, but something to keep in mind for reader's advisory - a good historical fiction and coming of age juvenile story. I also feel the need to read some more of this author as she apparently has 60 some books out there. Sad to hear of her recent passing away...
Isabel's life changes when her brother decides to go off an join the army and a Jewish girl, Helga moves in. Learning of what is really going on in Germany and at the concentration camps Isabel starts to see life in a different way.
There is quite a twist that I definitely did not see coming. So I definitely appreciated that. Isabel is (supposed to be) an obnoxious 11 year old. But that's the point of the story.
Again, not a favorite of mine, but something to keep in mind for reader's advisory - a good historical fiction and coming of age juvenile story. I also feel the need to read some more of this author as she apparently has 60 some books out there. Sad to hear of her recent passing away...
May 10, 2016
This young adult novel is one of the last that prolific author Lila Perl finished before her death. Isabel, 12, is from the Bronx and thinks that World War II is just a pain--shortages of everything, her brother suddenly enlisting (much to the chagrin of her parents), no fun. When Helga, a 14-year-old German Jewish refugee, comes to live with the family, Isabel slowly starts to understand the impact of the War on ordinary individuals. Perl does a good job setting the atmosphere, and Isabel is all too real (especially for those of us who would like to think that people behave "better" in times of stress, rather than resorting to our usual foibles and distractions). However, the ending is abrupt and the cover photo is totally misleading, showing an extremely sophisticated young woman in her late teens.
January 27, 2015
Apparently this was one of the last books written by an author before she died in her 90s, which might explain why the writing feels a bit tamer than other YA books dealing with harsh issues (not in a bad way, necessarily). Isabel is a somewhat spoiled Jewish young teenager living in the Bronx during World War II who ends up having to share a room with a Jewish girl from Germany who escaped on the Kindertransport and eventually made it to the U.S. but who has a secret to hide. What I liked: the discussion of how news media in the U.S. didn't really cover the concentration camps or exactly what was happening and instead focused on U.S. soldiers. I also liked the perspective of how although the U.S. was at war, there was a distancing effect.
February 8, 2015
Isabel's War is a good book that I enjoyed more than I thought. At first, it was hard to put up with Isabel. She was such a spoiled brat. Yes, I know that is what the author was getting at, but it took her quite a while to gain the insight that she needed. And, there was quite a surprise at the end of the book. It truly caught me by surprise.
March 9, 2015
12 yo Isabel is really annoyed by all of the changes that WWII has made in her life, no bands to dance to, the drs are all at the front and she wants her nose bobbed. Quick read about how she learns about what is really important.
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May 14, 2015dnf
January 3, 2019
I give this book 5 stars and 2 thumbs up. This book may be about WWII but you don't even have to like that to LOVE this book. It is an amazing book in which you do not only hear about Isabel's life but also about Helga's surprising and dramatic life. This is an amazing book about the War and about 2 very different people (some having drastic secrets that are not yet ready to share) become friends.
October 1, 2019
This book is absolutely chock-full of wonderful period details, which is mainly why I decided to re-read it and gave it three stars. I've read it before, and I didn't enjoy it. This time, I appreciated it more, but I doubt I would recommend it to anyone. Isabel is a spoiled, unsympathetic brat who is ridiculously full of herself and so wrapped up in her own life that she can't look beyond the end of her problematic nose and see the suffering of others. True, she grows and matures a bit over her interactions with "Helga", but only becomes marginally more tolerable. She never endears herself to me, and that is something about main characters I find unforgivable.
In short, three stars is a stretch, and I only give it to Isabel's War because of the absolutely, staggeringly wonderful period details.
In short, three stars is a stretch, and I only give it to Isabel's War because of the absolutely, staggeringly wonderful period details.
April 18, 2018
To tell the truth, Isabel's War was a little bit slow and foolish, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I honestly just pulled it off my shelf at random, so I'm not sure what I expected, but it was bright and fascinating and I wasn't falling asleep while reading it, so I think it was a win-win. I don't really recommend it, though. :)
July 2, 2016
I've read many books in this genre, and this one didn't stand out. The character development was clumsy (confronting her teachers about the reality of the fate of European Jews) and the plot twist came out of nowhere. There was no way to have seen it coming, so it didn't have much more of an impact than "huh, okay."
I'm not sure if it was the e-book formatting or actually how the novel was written, but there were multiple times when the narrative jumped in a completely disruptive manner and I couldn't help wondering whether there had been internal breaks that simply weren't on the page.
I liked that the focus was on someone who wasn't experiencing the horrors personally, only learning about them from the outside, but unfortunately the delivery wasn't strong enough.
I'm not sure if it was the e-book formatting or actually how the novel was written, but there were multiple times when the narrative jumped in a completely disruptive manner and I couldn't help wondering whether there had been internal breaks that simply weren't on the page.
I liked that the focus was on someone who wasn't experiencing the horrors personally, only learning about them from the outside, but unfortunately the delivery wasn't strong enough.
August 14, 2017
very interesting a very different view on the holocaust
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews