Clementine Harper is 12 and learning to tap dance at Madame Pearl's
Stage School in Finchley when war breaks out. As the air raids start to
hit London, she and her two younger brothers, Ronnie and Ernie, are
evacuated. Arriving in a tiny Devon village, they're sent to live with
an eccentric widow who lives in a drafty mansion in the middle of wintry
woods. Clementine is thrilled to meet another fish out of water -
Giesele, a sophisticated Jewish girl, who has escaped from Nazi Germany
and they become soul mates immediately. Giesele's parents are still in
hiding in Berlin and her sister Klara has gone missing. If only they
could help somehow. The girls are enlisted by the local Girl Guides who,
they soon find out, are training to do SO much more than bake cakes
and tie knots. They're asked to help put on a Christmas show for the
American soldiers at the military base nearby. But the show is a cover
for a very secret mission, and the girls' lives are soon filled with
mystery and adventure.
-A Girl for All Time
******
Here is a guest review by Amber Banister of Clementine's book, Clementine's Winter.
I read
'Clementine's Winter' by Sandra Goldbacher about a month ago. For those
not familiar, Clementine is the third doll in the family line from A
Girl for All Time. Clementine is from the 1940's and she is 12 years old
when she has to be evacuated to the London Countryside due to the Air
Raids from WWII. The story starts with Clementine and her two younger
brother's on a train ride from London to Devon Village. They are the
last to be taken by a family because Clem is determined not to split
them up. At school, Clementine makes an unlikely friend in Giesele, who
is a German Jew who barely made it out of Berlin on a kindertransport.
Giesele and her sister had been separated so Giesele is all alone. The
two girls become fast friends.
Clem turns 13 and inherits the Marchmont
Trunk, which has been handed down since Matilda, Your Tudor Girl, and
the first doll in this story line. The family history about the trunk, is all that
inherit it must add something of importance inside for the next
generation. Clem is unsure what she will be able to add or if anything
in her life is that important. Soon the girls are given a mission by the girl guides and American GIs to try
and find a German spy at a nearby
base, after intelligence shows there is a spy in the area. After all who
would suspect children?
This
book is very well written. All three books available at this time are
well written and have a good story line. Matilda's Secret was my
favorite cause it's hard to beat Henry the VIII's court. After reading
'Clementine's Winter' I believe it's my new favorite because I have
younger children and I can read this book to them sooner. The book cover feels like velvet. I love it and think it's super nice and works well with the artwork.
This book is
also set in the 1940s WWII which is one of my favorite time periods
since it shows how everyone came together to help in a time of need,
something that you really don't see anymore. I'm a huge Gone With the
Wind fan and loved when in this book it says
Mr. Carter favors Clark Gable. I won't go into anymore detail because
this book is a mystery with a twist ending. If you haven't bought this
book yet get over to A Girl for All Time® and order away!
****
