Review Detail

It's 1940, and thirteen-year-old Rosemary is reunited with her family in America. She's been separated from them due to family issues, but the threat of the Blitz is enough for a grandmother she's never met to pay for the whole family to come to Wisconsin. Once there, though, not all is the happy family reunion Rosemary had hoped for. Add to that a secret her father has kept from her. She's in fact Anishinaabe and not white. Rosemary has a lot of questions, but when an opportunity to bring the family together at a local county fair comes up? She's all in. Could this be the ticket for her family to stay together?

What worked: Sweet coming-of-age story told amidst family secrets at the start of WWII. Rosemary reminded me of a character right out of a Lucy Maud Montgomery tale. She's an optimist and determined in the face of those around her trying to drag her down. She longs for her family to stay together even though she fears otherwise. She even ends up on a farm that was a former resort.

There's some really touching parts of this story, especially with her grandmother, who isn't shy about who they really are. She doesn't beat around the bush on their Native American roots. She's in fact very proud of them. This is where I had hoped Rosemary's discovery of who she really was had been developed more. She is both shocked and surprised by the revelation. The story suddenly moves forward, resulting in more questions than answers.

The dynamics with others in the story also could have been fleshed out more. Her relationship with her parents comes across as standoffish until the very end of the novel. Only then do we get why her father might have withheld sharing his heritage with his daughter.

Slow-paced at the beginning, which shows Rosemary's time in London. The story develops more once she is at the farm. The garden descriptions are lush, and the peace Rosemary has while gardening is reflective of her nature. Rosemary and her grandmother have a mutual love for the beauty of nature. I liked the nods to the Anishninaabe people. I just wanted more.

Readers of WWII novels will enjoy this story. Also, fans of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who prefer slower-paced, character-driven novels.