What about Anna?

Publishers Weekly

Anna, a 16-year-old girl on the verge of graduating from school in Louvain (Belgium), holds everyone at a distance since the death of her two brothers (Jonas died of AIDS and Michael, a UNICEF worker, has been presumed dead in Bosnia). Her mother cannot quite extinguish her hope of finding Michael, and her architect father has moved out to his own apartment in Ostend, by the North Sea. Then one of Michael's friends sends Anna a letter with evidence that suggests her brother is alive but he wants her to tell no one, not even her parents. She reluctantly travels to meet him (conveniently, he is working in Ostend), and finds herself dealing with feelings she has long since stored away. While the geography can be hard to keep track of (characters have lived everywhere from America to Croatia to Italy) and the Balkan history may be unfamiliar to readers, Belgian author Simoen's descriptions and snatches of dialogue capture a lot of emotion. In the first part of the book, other characters, from Anna's parents to Jonas's doctor, alternate narration with Anna, revealing not only important back story but also their own feelings of love and loss; these segments help explain Anna's reluctance to delve back into the past or to connect with anyone in the present. The plot unfolds slowly and with sometimes frustrating complexity, but Anna's situation invites empathy, and motivated readers will be drawn into the puzzle of Michael's strange fate. Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

Anna is sixteen now and has years of practice in keeping silent, pushing ghosts back into her shrouded memory. With one brother dead of AIDS and another killed (or maybe not?) in a land mine accident in Bosnia, she cannot bear to keep in touch with Hugo, the family's close friend who may know more than he's telling. Until a letter arrives, coded in their old way to mean "Tell no one!" and shatters her relative calm. Does this mean the "maybe not" about her brother Michael's reported death? What does her father have to do with it? How can she avoid telling her mother when that letter has arrived in plain view? How can she follow up without shattering secrecy? And should she, anyway, when there can be nothing but trouble looming? Anna's decision to reopen the painful chapters of the past requires her to confront her travel phobia also; and on the train she meets someone else who is not just what he seems to be. You'll be totally engrossed in this well-translated page-turner for mature 12 and up readers. 2002, Walker,
— Judy Chernak

KLIATT

This is a sophisticated (by American standards) YA novel about a 16-year-old girl, Anna, who has lost two older brothers: one to AIDS, one in the war in Bosnia. Her parents are separated, both living in Belgium, and she lives with her mother. Anna is contacted by a friend of her brother Michael's, with cryptic messages that perhaps Michael and his girlfriend are alive after all—the car bomb didn't kill them in Bosnia two years ago. Anna cannot tell her grieving parents this for fear of raising their hopes, but she tries to face her own fears to find out the truth. The narration is disjointed, especially at the beginning, as chapters are narrated by different characters and the reader has to piece together the plot. Most of the chapters are narrated by Anna herself, and certainly this is her story above all as she tries to understand her parents, herself, and her brothers. Since she faces her travel phobia to take the train to the seashore where her father lives in order to discover if Michael is alive, this journey represents her larger journey to adulthood. She has finished her school exams and is ready for the next step of going to university, and certainly she enjoys much more freedom than most American girls her age. I believe that American readers will be fascinated by these differences, but this will be challenging reading for most. In the end, this is an exotic, poignant story of loss and hope for a better future. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1999, Walker, 254p.,
— Claire Rosser

VOYA

Having lost one brother to AIDS, another to the Bosnian war, and her parents to grief, sixteen-year-old Anna cannot build her future because she is entwined in her family's frightening, painful past. A letter from her brother's friend leads her to a discovery—her brother, Michael, supposedly blown up by a land mine, is still alive. His wife, also thought to be dead, wants Anna to introduce their two-year-old son to the grandparents he has never seen. The grandson renews Anna's family and her faith in the future. Like Gaye Hicyilmaz's Smiling for Strangers (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2000/VOYA June 2000), this coming-of-age novel forces the young sister in a blended family to unravel compelling secrets of love and misfortune. Coincidences—repeating numbers and songs, an unexpected encounter with an old family friend, or a decision not to ride in a car that blows up—build the perception, as in Hicyilmaz's novel, that although caught in unfortunate choices and uncontrollable circumstances, each person must love and trust. The characters share their experiences in strong, realistic voices. The description of an AIDS-infected body and a story about Muslims forced to walk through minefields demonstrate the world's danger and evil. The friend who engineers the family reunion, the compassionate doctor who supports Michael and his family, and the two-year-old grandchild illustrate some of life's wonderful surprises. Anna's transition from hostile isolation to acceptance is almost too rapid but believable given her background and intelligence. The situations and language require a mature audience familiar with the Bosnian conflict. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasionallapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2002, Walker, 264p,
— Lucy Schall

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Anna Bracke's world has almost begun to right itself. Her childhood in Croatia is a distant memory. High school in Belgium is ending. Her father has moved out, but they are communicating. Her mother's grief over the loss of her sons, Jason in 1994, and Michael in 1996, seems to be settling and they have found ways to avoid talking about the past. Then a letter arrives from Rovinj, in what once was Yugoslavia, from her brothers' friend Hugo, two years after Michael's disappearance in Bosnia. It reopens old wounds and sends Anna on a series of journeys, which gradually reveals what is behind layers of secrecy. The force propelling this story is the absent Michael, her idealistic half brother, torn by his biological father's belief in Serbian nationalism and his concern for the Balkans. The dead Jason opens the story, describing his death from AIDS. The letter tells of Hugo's chance encounter with Michael's wife, who was supposed to have died with her husband when their car set off a mine. Hugo, the friend and coordinator of the action; the good Doctor Devolder, who turns out to be more connected than it first appears; Anna's mother; and her father all contribute background before Anna takes over the story of a broken but partially healing family. High school readers who enjoy puzzling things out will appreciate this smoothly translated picture of a young adult on the brink of the rest of her life, in a European world still recovering from the emergence of new plagues and old nationalisms.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

"I am Jonas. I am dead," opens Anna's older brother whose body was ravished by AIDS five years ago. Now, in Belgium in 1999, Anna and her family are still haunted by Jonas's death, as well that of her oldest brother, Michael, who died three years ago, along with his girlfriend, Marta, both of whom were working for UNICEF in Bosnia when their Land Rover struck a mine. They are troubled more by Michael's death, however, because medical examiners could not identify the bodies with absolute certainty. About to graduate from high school in a few days, Anna receives a letter from Hugo, Michael's best friend, stating that he has been in contact with Marta and that Michael may be alive. Why write to Anna? Out of everyone who knew both Jonas and Michael, Anna has a future ahead of her. So begin family secrets, meetings with new friends and friends from the past, connections to Serbian nationalists Arkan and Slobodan Milosevic, and Anna's role in bringing the past and future together. Simoen, in his debut, divides the novel into three distinct parts. The first presents the cast of characters through chapters told from their own points of view, but it's not until the second part, which presents the problem and focuses solely on Anna, that it takes on the feel of a YA story. The conclusion comes about in a letter to a key player who assisted both Jonas and Michael. The intriguing plot, driven by extremely realistic dialogue and interior monologues, reveals Simoen's background as a dramatist. Although the original Dutch text was award-winning, this translation into British English will only be appreciated by the most sophisticated teen readers who are familiar with details of recent Balkan history andwho can identify with the emotions and life experiences of Anna and the adults around her. (Fiction. YA)