Books with author Lynne Kositsky

After fifteen-year-old Freda’s father disappears on Crystal Night, she, her mother, and her younger sister flee Germany for the “safe haven” of Shanghai. But the safe haven becomes anything but “safe” when Freda’s mother abandons her children. Forced to become an adult before her time, Freda finds strength, work, and new friends. She also joins the Junior Jewish Resistance, a small group of young people determined to show their defiance of Japanese and Nazi soldiers who are too close for comfort in their new home.

Claire’s future should be simple and predictable and include all the normal expectations of a young Acadian woman. But her life is far from straightforward. Her mother’s mental illness is a blot on the family name and Claire feels the brunt of it keenly. Her father, long sickened by his wife’s behavior, barely finds the energy to fend for his ever-growing family. Claire’s brother, Jacques, is increasingly angry and suspicious of the British soldiers who seem to take an unnatural interest in the family’s daily routine. Grandmère, well she is Grandmère – always hard to please, never capable of a single word of praise, no matter how hard Claire works to provide for all of them. And then there is Sam Douglass, handsome in his red coat and always paying attention to her. What danger does she court just by talking to him? Somehow Claire must make sense of it all before her home in Grand-Pré is changed forever. There are traitors about but who are they? Is Sam one? Is Jacques? Most terrifying of all, is she? Lynne Kositsky paints a vivid portrait of the land, the Acadians, and a tragic chapter in history. Claire by Moonlight traces the journey of one girl, facing insurmountable odds, who will forever remain haunted by the ghosts of those she loved.

Arien holds the key to healing her planet. Planet Kondar has a light side that faces the sun and a dark side in eternal night. Lightsiders have never met those on Darkside, known as Oscura. Arien lives in Kattannya on Lightside. When her parents fall through thin ice and drown, she is sold in the marketplace. The chief seer of Vor, Yaddair, purchases her. Vor is very close to Edge, a grey wall of fog that divides Lightside from Oscura. The Oscurans are suffering from a deadly plague and some fly into Vor, bringing the disease with them. How will the Vorians cure it? And what will happen to Arien?

Commended for the 2011 Best Books for Kids and Teens Robin Starveling, aka Noah Vaile, is scooped off the streets of seventeenth-century Bristol, England, and dragged onboard a ship bound for Virginia by the murderous William Thatcher, who needs a servant with no past and no future to aid him in a nefarious plot to steal gold. Starveling fits the bill perfectly since he lives nowhere and has no parents. Aboard the ship, Starveling makes friends with a young cabin boy, Peter Fence. Together the two boys suffer through a frightening hurricane and are shipwrecked on the mysterious Isle of Devils. They solve the ciphers embedded in emblems found in Thatchers sea chest, which has washed up with the wreck, then make their way through gloomy forests and tortuous labyrinths to a cave on the shore that houses a wizard-like old man. Beset by danger and villainy on every side, they finally discover the old mans identity and unearth a treasure that is much rarer and finer than gold.

Commended for the 2011 Best Books for Kids and Teens Robin Starveling, aka Noah Vaile, is scooped off the streets of seventeenth-century Bristol, England, and dragged onboard a ship bound for Virginia by the murderous William Thatcher, who needs a servant with no past and no future to aid him in a nefarious plot to steal gold. Starveling fits the bill perfectly since he lives nowhere and has no parents. Aboard the ship, Starveling makes friends with a young cabin boy, Peter Fence. Together the two boys suffer through a frightening hurricane and are shipwrecked on the mysterious Isle of Devils. They solve the ciphers embedded in emblems found in Thatchers sea chest, which has washed up with the wreck, then make their way through gloomy forests and tortuous labyrinths to a cave on the shore that houses a wizard-like old man. Beset by danger and villainy on every side, they finally discover the old mans identity and unearth a treasure that is much rarer and finer than gold.

Arien holds the key to healing her planet. Planet Kondar has a light side that faces the sun and a dark side in eternal night. Lightsiders have never met those on Darkside, known as Oscura. Arien lives in Kattannya on Lightside. When her parents fall through thin ice and drown, she is sold in the marketplace. The chief seer of Vor, Yaddair, purchases her. Vor is very close to Edge, a grey wall of fog that divides Lightside from Oscura. The Oscurans are suffering from a deadly plague and some fly into Vor, bringing the disease with them. How will the Vorians cure it? And what will happen to Arien?

When trapped or frightened, Esther sees windows -- and flying out of them -- as her only salvation. Young, Jewish and on the run from the Nazis, Esther is one of a group of children who manage to flee Germany for Belgium and then France at the beginning of World War II. Despite her perilous situation, she frets over her frumpy looks, is ridiculed by the popular girls and loves a boy who -- at the best of times -- treats her like a sister. As the war rages on and Esther bears witness to its horrors, her pain and isolation grow -- until only the highest windows bring the promise of release.

After Freda's father is arrested by the Nazis following Crystal Night, she, her mother, and her younger sister flee Germany for the "safe haven" of Shanghai. But the safe haven becomes anything but "safe" when Freda's mother abandons her children. Forced to become an adult before her time, Freda finds strength, work, and new friends. She also joins the Junior Jewish Resistance, a small group of young people determined to show their defiance of Japanese and Nazi soldiers who are too close for comfort in their new home.

When trapped or frightened, Esther sees windows -- and flying out of them -- as her only salvation. Young, Jewish and on the run from the Nazis, Esther is one of a group of children who manage to flee Germany for Belgium and then France at the beginning of World War II. Despite her perilous situation, she frets over her frumpy looks, is ridiculed by the popular girls and loves a boy who -- at the best of times -- treats her like a sister. As the war rages on and Esther bears witness to its horrors, her pain and isolation grow -- until only the highest windows bring the promise of release.

Candles is the story of Anya, a young girl who lives with her parents, her brother and two dogs. She doesn't much like Chanukah and would rather celebrate Christmas as her friends do. Receiving an old Menorah from her grandmother for Chanukah only increases her dissatisfaction, as she would rather be given a CD player like her brother Steve. But lighting the first candle opens a different world for Anya, as she is transported back to Nazi Germany before World War II. During the lighting of the candles on successive nights, Anya relives the experiences of Estie, a young woman whom she comes to believe is her grandmother. As each successive candle is lit, another scene from the past unfolds. And as the novel progresses, Anya grows more convinced that she is reliving the life of her grandmother. She experiences a new understanding of her own faith. But Candles has a provocative twist in the tale.