Gingersnap

by Patricia Reilly Giff

Scott County Library audiobook 3 CDs

Published: 2013

Read by: Olivia Campbell

Genre: YA historical fiction

For how short this book is, it sure took me a long time to "read" it. Set during WWII, orphan Jayna has been rescued from foster care by her brother when he turns 18. When he enlists to fight in the Pacific, she temporarily stays with their landlady until she decides to find her grandmother.

A young girl going to Brooklyn alone and asking to stay with a stranger . . . what could go wrong?

But as she always does, Giff surrounds her protagonist with memorable people (including the "ghost" of herself) and Jayna forges ahead as she worries and wonders about Rob's whereabouts.

Besides taking a long time to listen (started in my sewing room, finally put it on a portable player in my car, and finally finished it at my laptop), I didn't pay very close attention. I think my favorite of Giff's books remains Pictures of Hollis Woods. She writes engaging stories and captures the inner struggles of young girls.