Searching for Shona

While perusing a list of women mystery writers’ favorite mysteries by women, one plot synopsis caught my eye: two girls swap identities while evacuating Edinburgh in 1940. When I looked on Goodreads it turned out to be a 1978 kids’ book, but so many adult commenters mentioned how it had stuck with them that I had to give it a try. The quietly compelling story follows Marjorie—aka Shona—as she grows from 11 to 17 in a Scottish village during WWII. Historical details about rationing and air raids, the emotional ties that develop between the evacuees and their foster families, as well as a spooky mansion that holds the secret to the real Shona’s parentage, all provide plenty to capture the imagination. But I bet it’s the eerie ending that inspired the would-be author and struck all those other young readers. It’s not so much a twist as a shock—the jolt of an unexpected but undeniable answer to that age-old mystery: what really makes you who you are? For fans of The War That Saved My Life and Charlotte, Sometimes. (Ages 9 to 12)