I Will Come Back for You: A Family in Hiding During World War II

Why does Nonna have such curious charms on her bracelet%E2%80%94and why does she never take the bracelet off? The story takes her granddaughter and readers back to Rome during WWII, when Nonna and her family, along with other Jews, were caught in the ever-tightening grip of the Nazis. Each of the seven charms represents moments of hope and horror: a donkey reminds Nonna of the cart that took her, her brother, and her mother to visit Pap%C3%A0 after he was detained; the tiny pig prompts the telling of how Nonna and her brother, separated from their mother for weeks, hid in baskets of real piglets while escaping into the mountains to be reunited with her. As she did with Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II (2005), Russo bases this book on her own family history. Her writing is direct but always reassuring, and her na%C3%AFf gauche illustrations, rendered in saturated autumnal tones, feel very close to the actual family photographs that serve as the book's endpapers. Ingenuity and compassion are recurring themes in this eloquent portrayal of a family's struggle for freedom. Ages 5%E2%80%939. (Sept.)