  | I'll keep you close Author: Verstegen, Jeska | |
| Price: $23.08 | ||
Summary:
Jeska doesn't know why her mother keeps the curtains drawn so tightly every day. And what exactly is she trying to drown out when she floods the house with Mozart? When Jeska's grandmother accidentally calls her by a stranger's name, she seizes her first clue to uncovering her family's past, and hopefully to all that's gone unsaid.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (08/01/21)
Booklist (11/01/21)
The Hornbook (00/11/21)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 11/01/2021 Eleven-year-old Jeska (Jesje to her family) lives in the Netherlands with her mother, father, and older sister. Theirs is a largely cheerless household: her mother keeps the drapes closed, seems afraid to answer the door, and has rules upon rules for Jeska to obey. Among them are don’t be conspicuous, don’t talk too loudly, don’t make mistakes, and always be careful everywhere you go—even if the danger is past. But why? A clue appears when Jeska and her mother visit her maternal grandmother in a nearby nursing home, and the woman calls Jeska by the wrong name: Hesje. But who is Hesje? Jeska decides to become a journalist like her father and find out the answers to who, what, when, where, why, and how? As she investigates, answers slowly begin to appear, until Jeska finally learns the truth. Based on real life, with ties to WWII and the Holocaust, the book is told in Jeska’s simple, straightforward voice, which captures the melancholy mood of this quietly memorable story. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
