I’ll Keep You Close

Straddling memoir and fiction, illustrator Verstegen (A New Home for Beaver) tells the story of 11-year-old Jesje uncovering the trauma of her family’s WWII tragedies. Jesje, her older sister, and their parents live in the shadow of her mother’s unexplained fears and sensitivities—to noise, to strangers, to war talk—keeping shades drawn, voices lowered, and the doorbell often unplugged. When Jesje’s Flemish grandmother, Bomma, mistakenly calls her “Hesje” and nobody will explain the name’s origin, Jesje turns investigative journalist to learn who the mysterious figure was and why her parents insist on keeping the war’s history from her. Following clues in Bomma’s photo album, as well as eavesdropping, secretly visiting Bomma, and questioning a visiting uncle, Jesje comes to understand the roots of her mother’s behaviors and her own identity. Set in the Netherlands, apparently in the early 1980s, the slim novel is imbued with hidden grief and pain, but also with the quiet joys that Jesje’s sensitive nature brings her, as she befriends a neighborhood cat, tries to save a favorite tree, and creates an imaginary island with a friend. The book’s gentle pace may discourage some, but Jesje’s steady pursuit of the truth and embracing of her legacy make for a satisfying read. Ages 8–12. (Nov.)