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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Kiely, Maria

Which Way Is Home?

177 pp. | Penguin/Paulsen | May, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-525-51680-4 $17.99
(2) 4-6 Communists have recently taken power in post-WWII 1948 Czechoslovakia, and narrator Anna's father, an outspoken critic of the new regime and an active member of the pre-war democratic government, has left the country for his safety. Eleven-year-old Anna, her older sister Ruzena, and their mother flee their village of Roven. They travel through Prague and navigate the no-man's land along the German border, finally arriving in Regensburg, Austria, to find the girls' father and start a new life. Kiely's gripping novel, based on her mother's life story, features a steady voice, strong pacing, and rich historical details. Anna's journey takes place over just a few days, and her first-person narration pulls readers along through the tumult and intensity of emotions and events. The relationship between the sisters is particularly effective. Ruzena lords her experience and knowledge over her little sister but is herself feeling the pain of leaving home; over the course of the journey, Anna sees her sister more clearly and resents her less. Kiely skillfully provides the cultural details and historical context to help readers become fully immersed in the story, creating a strong sense of time and place ("Remember when the war was finally over and the Nazis were gone and the Russian soldiers drove their trucks and tanks down the main street?...I thought they were good guys").
Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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