The Sky Over Rebecca

Fox, Matthew. The Sky Over Rebecca
November 14, 2023 by Union Square Kids
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Kara Lukas lives with her mother in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother is very busy with work, so Kara is often left to her devices. Her 86 year old grandfather, who is in declining health, is around as well, but his home is an hour away by bus. When Kara spends the day at the mall for something to do, she sees a mysterious snow angel on her way home. It bothers her, and she finally realizes why-- there are no footprints leading up to it. From the window of her apartment, she sees a girl in shappy clothing collecting sticks, and eventually follows her to the lake. The two can barely see each other but eventually connect, and it's clear from the beginning that the two exist in different time periods. Rebecca is living in Germany in 1944, and has made a camp on an island with her brother Samuel, who can't walk. The two are trying to survive the winter, and Kara is a big help, bringing them food and warm clothing. Rebecca had dropped a coin, and Kara had taken it to a shop to be valued, but the shop has been closed. The owner, an elderly man named Albert, tells her that when the lake is frozen, the layers between the past and present are very thin, and that she should be careful not to become stuck. When she travels to Rebecca's time, Kara falls through the ice, and is saved by her new friend. There are challenges in her own world, as well, including a bully named Lars. She wants desperately to be able to save both Rebecca and Samuel, but is unsure how to do this. WHen her grandfather and Rebecca die in quick succession, Kara feels all alone in the world, but manages to save Samuel with help from an unlikely source. 

Strengths: This had a wintery, atmospheric feel to it, and I loved that it references Pearce's Tom's Midnight Garden, which is one of my favorite time travel novels. There are some nice parallels to this, not just with the skating, but with one of the characters. The coin and the frozen river are good mechanisms. Rebecca and Samuel's plight is pretty dire, and I loved that Kara's mom was supportive of her attempts to help them even without knowing much information. The look into daily life in Stockholm was interesting. 

Weaknesses: This was rather slow moving and lyrical. It involved a fair amount of death but really didn't shed any light on the events of the Holocaust, since we are viewing Rebecca's experiences through a very narrow and disconnected lens.
What I really think: This was charming as a time travel book but didn't have as much information about 1944 as I would have liked. There were a lot of things that could have been better developed (Albert and Samuel, for instance). A good choice for readers who enjoyed Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic or Romero's The Dollmaker of Krakow.