Searching for Lottie

Readers will appreciate putting together the puzzle pieces, which are loosely based on the author's own family's story. A highly accessible and endearing historical mystery about a painful period of the past that still resonates in the contemporary landscape.

Seventh grader Charlie was named after her great-aunt Charlotte, known as Lottie, who disappeared during the 1938 Anschluss, and who, like Charlie, was a gifted violinist. A school assignment sends Charlie on a research mission to learn what happened to Lottie: did she perish in the Holocaust, or did she survive, unbeknownst to her family? As Charlie follows clues found in mementos and memories from her beloved Nana Rose, Lottie's younger sister, she becomes intent on finding Lottie. She researches Ellis Island archives online, tracks down translators of old German and Hungarian, and telephones strangers in other cities. Ross (Kiki and Jacques) convincingly depicts Charlie's growing passion for--and persistence in--her quest, together with her love for music and a blossoming crush on a fellow musician. Family relationships, as well as issues of aging and Alzheimer's, are drawn with gentleness and compassion. Ross moves the story at a smooth pace as Charlie encounters new obstacles and overcomes them, thanks to several serendipitous events. This is a tender, hopeful work with just the right level of suspense for younger fans of historical fiction. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 5-7--Twelve-year-old Charlie (short for Charlotte) Roth has been assigned a family history project. She decides to research her long-lost namesake, Lottie Kulka, presumed to have perished in Hungary during the Holocaust. Lottie's mother and younger sister, fortunately, escaped Austria to the United States, but Lottie was not so lucky. She was studying violin in Hungary and was never heard from again. Charlie interviews her own grandmother, Lottie's sister, and she shares scrapbooks, letters, and other mementos related to Lottie's life in Europe. These family documents lead Charlie on a slightly unbelievable path in which she finds distant relatives and discovers new truths about her family. In so doing, she navigates the world of middle school orchestra, boys, friends, and her immediate family. The dialogue, though information-packed, is often stiff. The author concludes with a note explaining how this story weaves together her own family's history. She further explains how the abundance of online and digital genealogical resources makes researching one's family history more possible than ever before. She encourages readers to research their own heritage and ask family members to share stories. VERDICT A satisfactory Holocaust story with encouraging words for readers to spark storytelling and genealogical research.--Lisa Crandall, formerly at the Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Charlie's quest for information is realistically interrupted by her own life as a middle-schooler with crushes, friends, and her violin practice, and her competitive but still affectionate relationship with her brother underlines the loss that her grandmother feels in her sister's disappearance. When the perennial family history project approaches, readers may be inspired to explore lesser-known limbs of their family tree to find surprises of their own.—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

While tweens will identify with the daily challenges Charlie faces (her best friend moving, her crush on a cello player, her relationship with her older brother), this is all background for an unpredictable, page-turning mystery. Students may be motivated to find out more about this horrific period in world history or become interested in genealogy. . . . A short novel with brief chapters, this title would be an excellent read aloud for instruction on the Holocaust or for recognizing Remembrance Day on May 2nd.—School Library Connection