THE SKY OVER REBECCA

Kara Lukas, a contemporary Stockholm girl without friends, spends her time alone or with her beloved grandfather, who is enthusiastic about astronomy.

Kara lives with her caring, hardworking single mom; her father left when she was a baby. One day, observant Kara notices a strange snow angel, one without any footsteps around it. Later, she finds a coin in the snow, stamped with a swastika and the date 1942. Then, a third odd thing happens: She meets the coin’s owner, a resourceful Jewish girl named Rebecca who’s trying to escape the Nazis with her younger brother, Samuel, who has a disability and cannot walk. For the siblings, it’s 1944, and they have managed to survive on an island in the middle of a frozen lake that Kara can only see when Rebecca’s hand touches her bare skin. The three children begin a relationship that crosses the decades dividing their existences. Kara has an empathetic desire to help her two new friends, and she has the help of Lars, a bully who eventually becomes a friend. The book provides limited information about the Holocaust, and some readers may not fully understand the overall situation. Kara’s abilities to enter the past, interact with the siblings, and even bring Lars with her are hazily explained, but her compassion and mature understanding are admirable, and readers will want to engage with her.

A time-travel story filled with friendship and compassion.