Waiting for the Storks (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
Waiting for the Storks is the latest historical fiction title from Katrina Nannestad, transporting the reader to the Second World War and the time of Himmler’s Lebensborn Program, in which the Nazi ideal of a pure race was front and centre. Blonde-haired and blue-eyed Zofia lives an altered but happy life in German-occupied Poland, until a chance encounter with soldiers results in her being ripped from her family and all she has known. Zofia finds herself on a new path; stripped of her Polish heritage, renamed and re-homed with a wealthy German family, she has been reinvented into the role of a poor orphaned ‘German girl’ who has been given a second chance. With limited options she tries to embrace the lie, pushing away memories of the old. But the past is hard to forget and Zofia soon realises that you can never ignore who you really are. Nannestad masterfully brings the importance of connection, family and belonging to the forefront through her storytelling. Waiting for the Storks touches on the trauma of separation and displacement, and Nannestad does so in a gentle way, opening up a historical portal for readers aged 11 and older. Zofia’s struggle to remain true to her identity, while also wanting to survive and be loved gives her an authentic voice and her story offers a relatable way for young readers to explore the darker avenues of the world’s history.
M H Alessandrino is a Perth-based writer and a freelance reviewer
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