Girl 38 Finding a friend by Ewa Jozefkowicz

This is a fantastic thought-provoking read that will beloved by everybody regardless of age. It shows both human frailties and strengths in a blink of an eye. It is a fantastic adventure from start to finish - a book to savour and reflect upon. Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Until page 179 (Chapter 18) I didn't draw a breath reading Girl 38 Finding a friend. Then on page 179 (the whole novel is only 216 pages) I was able to sigh a huge sigh of relief.

Girl 38 actually contains three stories. First off there is the story of Kat - a story of the here and now. Her childhood friend Gemma is a dreadful girl. She is a manipulator, she is jealous of everyone and she uses her friends to attack other kids at school.  Kat knows the things Gemma expects her to do are very wrong but somehow she feels powerless to disobey.

A new boy arrives in the class - Julius. He is smart, he is a champion swimmer and Gemma hates him. The first few "pranks" are fairly harmless. Gemma gets her friends to collect maggots from a science experiment and put them into Julius's school bag. Then Gemma decides to trick Julius into thinking the school is having an dress up day in the hope of embarrassing him. This is humiliating but Julius survives. But when Julius swims faster than Gemma she decides to "really make him pay" by setting up a rendezvous with a girl who is supposed to really like him and that girl is Kat and Gemma has organised for the whole class to be there.

Meanwhile Kat has met the old lady next door and over the coming days Kat listens as Ania recounts her story as a holocaust survivor. Ania, back in Poland in World War II, watched as her best friend is taken away by Nazi soldiers. Mila has been taken to the Warsaw ghetto. Ania is desperate to rescue her but this seems impossible. Young Ania meets a solider called Sommer.  This is a story of true courage, bravery and heroism. Hearing Ania tell her story from the past helps Kat find a way to stop Gem and to reveal the truth to Julius.

The third strand of this story comes from the title - Girl 38. She is a comic strip character that Kat has been working on and the themes of finding new lands and suspicion of strangers echo the ideas explored in the other two narrative strands.

All of this sounds complicated but it is not. Ewa Jozefkowicz is a skilled storyteller and as I said I devoured this book, I despaired for Kat, I waanted to reach out and help Julius and I cheered for the actions of Ania.

I highly recommend Girl 38 Finding a Friend. This is a wonderful example of the power of storytelling.

Take a look at the art of Anna Hymas who designed the cover.

Click these review comments for more plot details:

Many books have bullying as a central theme; there are also many that deal with people and stories of the Second World War. But the telling, re-telling and listening to stories in Girl 38 ties the two themes together in a fresh way to produce a novel which eloquently explores what friendship means and what sacrifices and acts of courage need to be made when you genuinely care about someone, regardless of age or time. Just Imagine

Ewa Jozefkowicz has penned a wonderful tale, inspired by her own grandmother’s story which illustrates the lessons that we can all learn from history and examines friendship and courage on many levels. V’s View from the Bookshelves

Friendship is a precious thing and is so important, but to flourish it needs to be formed on a basis of mutual trust, understanding and affection. When these elements are not there, it is easy to feel trapped- by habit, loyalty or fear- and things can go very wrong. North Somerset Teachers Book Award

This is strong and impactful writing packaged in a simple story with mirrored events and clever plot turns. It implores us to use our time thoughtfully. Minerva Reads


I would follow Girl 38 Finding a Friend with:

The Little Riders

Honey Cake

Ewa Jozefkowicz is the author of::