The Horn Book Guide

OLDER FICTION

Kaurin, Marianne

Almost Autumn

282 pp. | Scholastic/Levine | January, 2017 | Trade ISBN 978-0-545-88965-0 $17.99

(1) YA Translated by Rosie Hedger. Ilse Stern, a typical rebellious, lovelorn adolescent, lives with her Jewish family in 1942 Nazi-occupied Oslo. A present-tense narration creates immediacy, while quotidian details provide connection. But throughout everything runs an oppressive sense of dread--telegraphed through Kaurin's spare, tense prose. Not an easy read, and one that requires historical context for full comprehension; an appended note supplies some background.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017