Author Katarzyna Ryrych takes a wonderfully empathetic approach to the inner lives of young people, revealing how easy it is to judge and how tough it is to form bonds when someone is trapped within the emotional armour of their sadness and fears.
The main character of this unruly middle grade novel is Ania, who has been placed in an orphanage following the death of her parents. She goes from a polite and well-behaved young lady to the institution’s most rebellious resident. She is befriended by an older kid and learns the ins and outs of strength and survival. She devotes herself to this new way of living, even if it means cutting herself off from everything in her past. Ania, it seems, is among the most ‘unadoptable’ of all the children at the institution, but when a fascinating couple appears at the doorstep in search of a child, she can’t help but feel something. This is the story about the importance of being present and allowing a young person to express who they really are and find their own way. The book has been described as ‘a bit happy, a bit sad, as complicated and astonishing as life itself, which makes it very real.’
Agnieszka Karp-Szymańska, translated by Charles Kraszewski
