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Library | Material Type | Call Number | Child Count | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
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Searching... Branch | Juvenile Book | J FICTION KOSS, A STO | 2 | Juvenile Fiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
In her diary, eleven-year-old Robyn describes her family's visit to Austria, from the disastrous theft of their luggage to adventures in the countryside, while she tries to recover from the death of her Aunt Beth.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Koss's (The Girls) astute and affecting novel treats tragic themes with an invigoratingly tart tone. The narrator, 11-year-old Robyn Gittleman, is vacationing with her family in Vienna when their luggage is stolen. What bothers her most is the loss of her diary, a gift from her diary-keeping aunt, killed six months earlier in a traffic accident. Robyn's mother, who was with Aunt Beth in the car, remains so traumatized that she, like Aunt Beth, also seems absent. The entries in Robyn's replacement diary form the narrative: "Sometimes I want to yell at her, `Who died in that crash? You or Aunt Beth?' " she confides. The various types of mourning the heroine experiences intensify against the Austrian backdrop, with Koss deftly incorporating moments suggestive of that culture's distinctive black humor (e.g., a tour guide shows off a famous crypt, saying, "Anyone care for tinned meat? Within these jugs are the vital organs of members of the Hapsburg family"). The author also allows Robyn to consider, briefly, the Holocaust, which the girl's Austrian-Jewish great-grandparents, alone of their families, survived. The particularly insightful portrayals of Robyn's anger and internal conflicts find an almost ideal counterbalance in her mordant wit and candor painful though her grapplings are, her emotional recovery manifests itself so gradually and lightly as to surprise readers with the force of its optimism. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
After the tragic death of her aunt Beth, Robyn and her family attempt to heal by traveling to Austria for a vacation. Robyn records their funny and often touching adventures in her diary, including her motherÆs first moments of waking from the overwhelming loss of her sister. RobynÆs narrative voice convincingly captures her familyÆs coping with the death of a loved one. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Five months after a tragic car accident kills an 11-year-old girl's favorite aunt, she and her family travel to Austria to get away from their grief. "I miss Aunt Beth with all my heart, but I miss my mom even more," Robyn confides to her new diary. Her old one, a present from Beth, her mother's sister, was stolen along with the rest of the family's luggage from a parked car in Vienna. But what was really stolen from Robyn is not her suitcase or even the words in her diary, but her happy interaction with her family, especially her mother. Since the loss of Aunt Beth, Robyn's mother, once a lively woman with a bold "crazy-bird laugh," has sunk into a distracted depression. Told with sensitivity and wit in a perfectly pitched preadolescent voice, Robyn's diary chronicles her mother's incremental up-and-down progress and her own increasing frustration and attendant guilt. "Maybe I'm a rotten niece . . . but I feel like shouting, C'mon, Mom, get over it already!' " she confides to her diary. And just when the reader feels like shouting along with her, a minor accident in an ice cave, a popular tourist attraction, causes Robyn's mother to snap out of her lethargy, helping a group of frightened, mostly elderly Japanese visitors climb to safety. Even though the subject is sad, the overriding message of the book-despite crushing loss life does continue-is a hopeful one and Koss leavens the mood with her protagonist's amusing and astute observations. (Fiction. 10-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-7. Eleven-year-old Robyn Gittleman hopes the family's Vienna vacation will be a pleasant distraction. The recent death of beloved Aunt Beth has affected everyone deeply. Unfortunately, the family's luggage is stolen, including Robyn's diary, a gift from Aunt Beth. Its loss brings a new beginning: Robyn's intimate, conversational entries in a new journal provide an engaging read as they realistically depict the grieving-healing process. Detailed, often humorous descriptions and commentary on the Austrian people and places alternate with poignant reflections on Aunt Beth and family experiences. Heavier issues are presented well and fairly--from complex family dynamics to Holocaust references. The importance of dialogue and self-expression come clear as Robyn faces her own feelings of loss, isolation, and frustration, as does the value of journaling to bring about catharsis. --Shelle Rosenfeld