The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson Date of Publication: 2004 ISBN: 0330418025 Number of Pages: 388

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Junior: High Intermediate: Average
GENRES: Adventure/Mystery
THEMES : Good versus Evil - Sacrifice and Redemption - Family

SUMMARY:
Annika has grown up in Vienna from the time she was found as a young baby in a nearby village. She loves her life with her surrogate mothers, Ellie and Sigrid, and the three professors, in whose house Ellie and Sigrid work. Vienna is an exciting city, and there's never a dull moment in Annika's life in her little community...especially with her wonderful friends, like the old lady across the street who tells such exciting stories...Still, Annika finds herself wondering about her heritage and identity.

It comes as a wonderful surprise, therefore, when one day a beautiful woman arrives on the doorstep and claims to be Annika's mother. Annika is dazzled by the woman's beauty and apparent riches, and goes away to her mother's family home in faraway Germany. All is not as it appears, however, and Annika soon realizes that even her cheery disposition and fondness for people cannot make this situation as good as it first appeared. When a new friend is blamed for something he didn't do, Annika's situation reaches crisis proportions, and only her "family" back in Vienna can save the day...if they can get to her in time...

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
- likes The Thief Lord
- enjoys stories with characters you can really "see"
- likes stories of hidden riches and secret identities
- has an unorthodox family
- likes heart-warming, old-fashioned adventures
- is Austrian
- likes The Secret Garden

WHAT ELSE?
This book has lots of interesting little quirky bits in it, funny place-names, and characters that walk out of the pages fully-formed. It is reminiscent of something Disney would have made into a movie in the past. With its foreign setting, twisty plot, and feel of the place being as much a character as the people in the book, it has shades of The Thief Lord.

RELATED LINK:
This book won the Smarties Book Prize Silver Award, and the author has won numerous awards for her other work. A neat review can be found at http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/2006/07/the_star_of_kaz.html