In Gingersnap, Newbery Honor winner Patricia Reilly Giff returns to the Brooklyn of her childhood to tell the heartwarming story of a young girl during World War II.
Since her parents’ death in a car accident, Jayna has been under the care of her brother, Rob. But Rob is called up for duty, leaving Jayna with Celine, their landlady.
When a telegram arrives, the news is terrifying: Rob is missing in action. Unable to face a loveless future as a burden to Celine, Jayna decides to take matters into her own hands. With her pet turtle in a cat carrier, Jayna boards a bus from upstate New York to Brooklyn. She is following clues in her mother’s old recipe book, which tell of a bakery called Gingersnap. Could a grandmother she has never known live there?
Evoking the sights, sounds and tastes of neighborhoods from a time gone by, Gingersnap was a labor of love for Giff, whose inspirations included memories of her grandfather.
Readers are often introduced to WWII through stories of combat. Gingersnap offers an evocative picture of life on the home front.
