In 1941, Peggy’s modest world revolves around her parents, cousin and best friend Delia, and neighbor friends who live within walking distance of her family’s rural Iowa farm. But lately everything seems to be changing. Delia has been diagnosed with leukemia and given six months to live, but no one will tell her the truth about her own health. And with Jewish refugees—including an attractive boy named Gunther and a chess-playing former professor, both of whom have lost their families—moving into the nearby Scattergood hostel, the faraway war seems to have arrived in Peggy’s backyard. Set over the course of about six months, this profoundly pleasurable novel is remarkable in its depiction of complex human emotions and motivations. Peggy (white) convinces herself that if only she can find the right medical information, or talk to the right person, or pray hard enough, or write Delia enough uplifting letters, she can save her cousin’s life. She is mathematically brilliant and mature for her age (12), but she is also realistically naïve and ignorant of the wider world; she has a surface-level understanding of the trauma and grief that Gunther and the Professor are experiencing, and her sometimes-uncomfortable interactions with them help her to look beyond her own pain and experiences. Nuanced, heartrending, and quietly astonishing, this is the coming-of-age novel at its best. (Ages 9-14)

In rural Iowa in 1941, twelve-year-old Peggy’s quiet life is turned upside down by refugee arrivals, first love, and a heartbreaking diagnosis.

Growing up a farm girl, Peggy’s life has never been particularly exciting. But a lot changes in 1941. Her friend Joe starts acting strange around her. The Quaker hostel nearby reopens to house Jewish refugees from Europe, including a handsome boy named Gunther and a troubled professor of nothing. And her cousin and best friend, Delia, is diagnosed with leukemia—and doesn’t even know it.

Peggy has always been rational. She may not be able to understand poetry and speak in metaphors like Delia, but she has to believe she can find a way out of this mess, for both of them. There has to be a cure. And yet the more she tries to control, the more powerless she feels. She can’t make Gunther see her the way she sees him. She can’t help the Professor find his missing daughter. She’s tired of feeling young and naive, but growing up is proving even worse.

A historical coming-of-age novel that feels as alive and present as today, Scattergood offers even readers familiar with World War II a fascinating new glimpse of history, far from the battlefields of Europe and the shores of New York City. H.M. Bouwman presents a raw and unapologetic snapshot of a girl battling her own shortcomings and the random nature of life.