As a fan of Ewa Josefkowicz’s debut The Mystery of the Colour Thief published last year (see our review here), I was pleased to hear about the arrival of her new newest story. This one shares a number of themes with the first book – friendship, bullying, finding courage to do the right thing and valuing the stories and experiences of other people – but this time weaves in a new thread of World War II history into the mix.

Kat is a young teenager who uses her spare time to create comic strip stories based on her fictional superhero ‘Girl 38′. At school, things become tricky for Kat with friendship issues. Meanwhile at home she strikes up a friendship with her elderly neighbour, Ania, and begins to learn about Ania’s experiences of growing up in Poland during World War II. Kat listens intently to each instalment of Ania’s story, from the time soldiers forced her to separate from her family and leave her village to the time she hid in a bakery near to where her best friend was being held in a concentration camp. As Ania’s powerful history unfolds, Kat feels challenged to find courage of her own to stand up for what is right and confront Gem’s bullying behaviour.

The three strands of Kat’s story, the Girl 38 plot and Ania’s tale weave together beautifully and mirror each other in a way that demonstrates how valuing the stories and experiences of others can enrich our own lives. With convincingly drawn characters, relatable issues and important values at its heart, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read that would suit readers transitioning from Upper KS2 to Lower KS3.