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Girl in the Blue Coat | January 25, 2017

by Monica Hesse (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, April 2016)

In this stunning debut, it’s 1943 and Hanneke Bakker lives in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation. Still mourning the death of her boyfriend who was killed during the German invasion and desperate to keep food on her family’s table, Hanneke procures and delivers black market goods to paying customers. Her motto is simple: fulfill her customers’ orders and don’t get involved. But when one woman asks her to find fifteen-year-old Mirjam, a Jewish girl that had been hiding in her house before mysteriously disappearing, Hanneke’s isolated existence begins to unravel. As she delves deeper into the mysteries and secrets surrounding Mirjam, she finds herself swept into the heart of the resistance and forced to confront not only the horrors of the Nazi regime but also her own feelings of grief and guilt. This is a breathtaking novel that doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of WWII and shows the courage and bravery of resistance fighters. Immersive, gripping, and deeply moving, it’s an absolute must-read.