WHAT ABOUT ANNA?

Anna, a 16-year-old girl on the verge of graduating from school in Louvain (Belgium), holds everyone at a distance since the death of her two brothers (Jonas died of AIDS and Michael, a UNICEF worker, has been presumed dead in Bosnia). Her mother cannot quite extinguish her hope of finding Michael, and her architect father has moved out to his own apartment in Ostend, by the North Sea. Then one of Michael's friends sends Anna a letter with evidence that suggests her brother is alive—but he wants her to tell no one, not even her parents. She reluctantly travels to meet him (conveniently, he is working in Ostend), and finds herself dealing with feelings she has long since stored away. While the geography can be hard to keep track of (characters have lived everywhere from America to Croatia to Italy) and the Balkan history may be unfamiliar to readers, Belgian author Simoen's descriptions and snatches of dialogue capture a lot of emotion. In the first part of the book, other characters, from Anna's parents to Jonas's doctor, alternate narration with Anna, revealing not only important back story but also their own feelings of love and loss; these segments help explain Anna's reluctance to delve back into the past or to connect with anyone in the present. The plot unfolds slowly and with sometimes frustrating complexity, but Anna's situation invites empathy, and motivated readers will be drawn into the puzzle of Michael's strange fate. Ages 12-up. (May)