Norwegian Girl

By Mary Rosambeau (Mary Rosambeau Publishing)

Norwegian Girl By Mary Rosambeau

Aansah's review
I really, really enjoyed this book. The plot was amazing, and I love the characters in the book. I picked this book because it talked about WW2, and spies, and I really like the genre of this book, so the genre and content appealed to me.

My favourite character would have to be Britt. Her character is really strong, and she didn’t care about how people would have perceived her because she was holding a teddy bear around with her everywhere she went. She was also very loyal to those she loved. 

I learned quite a bit about spies in WW2, and how people were treated under Nazi Rule and during a World War.

WW2 is a time in history that appealed to me because of how life changed during this 6 year period, and how little things caused something as big as the 2 world wars to take place. So the time period the boom was set in was something that appealed to me.

The plot was exciting and interesting, and held my interest until the final word.

I would recommend this book to any reader who would want to know about WW2, or anyone that just likes historical fiction in general.

April's review
The era of this book is set in WW2 and it is about a girl named Britt. She comes to stay with a boy called Rory and he has a friend called Paul. Her father looked in a really secret file so the Germans are looking for him he needed to escape so he set off on a little rowing boat. Britt's mother thought they should go because she thought that they would hold them hostage so Britt’s father would have to give himself up. She goes to Rory’s family taking a teddy bear with her. Her father told her to take special care of it. My favourite character is Greta because she is horrible at first but then she is really helpful in the story. I think that this is an amazing book. I really recommend it.

Stephen's review
This book follows the story Secrets and Spies book. I really liked the first one and would recommend people read the first one before this one.

The book is based in Scotland and Rory and Paul who are just a little younger than me, have to take a Norwegian girl who is a refugee around with them in the holidays. Whilst away they find out she has a secret and this secret changes their moods about her. This secret than creates a race between the boys and the spy, they have to find out who it is before the spy gets to Britt.

I would recommend this book as it is well paced and there are lots of historical facts. I thought this book gives schoolchildren like me a good idea of what life was like for kids in World War Two. It also contains a glossary and historical notes which are nice. 

Hettie's review
This was very fast paced and lots happened. I liked it that the children did lots of things on their own without adults but I didn’t like the fact that the boys never helped with the washing up. I would love to make a kite like they did out of paper and glue but I’m not sure I want to be involved with enemies in a war. I guessed about the teddy too.

Jaanvi's review
The story is set in Scotland during World War Two, and follows two 12-year-old boys, Rory and his friend Paul. Together, they go on a treacherous yet fun adventure, uncovering Norwegian secrets, exploring rocky caves and crossing paths with intimidating German spies. The two boys are upset when they find out that they must spend their summer holidays with a Norwegian girl who was a refugee. However, things take a turn when the boys find out that the girl might be hiding a huge and dark secret. She had been sent to Scotland as she was wanted as a hostage to try and force her father, wanted by the German Gestapo (the scary secret police), to give up the secret plans that he had stolen, and someone was also sent to follow her. The group must work together to solve the mystery of the German spy while unravelling some of the enemies’ darkest secrets along the way.

The characters had a great backstory, and the plot was very engaging to read about and brought the past to life. I was especially fascinated by Gestapo and think they must be very ruthless and have been inspired to further research life under the Nazis. The book taught a lesson of team bonding and the importance of how when you try your best to work well with someone, you will always come out with the best results. It taught me about the past and how difficult it was for child refugees and the way of life that they had to live by during the time of war.

It was quite a light-hearted book, despite its serious themes, with relatable characters and an engaging storyline.

Overall rating: 9.5/10. I would recommend.

Kieran's review
I found the book very interesting as it gave much information about the daily life during war times. When reading the book, I learnt that during the war times science teachers were taken to labs to develop weapons for each side and that everyone had to make do and reuse objects whenever they could. My favourite character was Britt because at the start she was very mysterious, however as the story went on, I learnt much more about her character and backstory. The time period in which this book was set made me interested in finding out more of what went on in this time and how the events could have affected the book. The plot was exciting and made you want to read on to find out more. I would recommend this book to other pupils as it’s a very interesting and adventurous book and I can’t think of any part of it that I didn’t like. :)

Emily's review
This is a journey of growing friendship and mystery.

Rory and Paul do not really want to be friends with a Norwegian refugee, Britt. Eventually, their curiosity gets the better of them and together they explore the rocky, Scottish coast, looking for the truth to a wartime mystery.

Not really my type of book but I enjoyed the mystery. I found out about the challenges of being a refugee and about life in the 1940s. The glossary helped me to understand the history.

I would recommend this for anyone who would like to know more about World War 2.

Nathan's review
I enjoyed the book because I enjoy historical books and it was historically accurate. I found Nicco the most interesting as I wasn’t aware about how POWs were treated in the UK. From the book I learnt that people encountered POWs more often than I thought. I didn’t know much about WW2 before this and this made it more interesting for me. The plot is quite light-hearted and I would recommend this book to other pupils.

Humairah's review
I enjoyed this book but it was a bit short and didn’t go into a lot of detail. But it had an interesting storyline and I would recommend this book to other people. It was an adventurous, fun book.

Matilda-Mae's review
My favourite character was Rory because he was always wanting to go to the beach and climb the rocks - he was very adventurous. I didn’t like Mr Green because he was working as a secret spy and wanted to take Britt away and keep her hostage. From this book, I have learnt that the Germans used to spy on other countries to get information about their plan for the war. This book was very mysterious because the Teacher Mr Green was the bad guy after all and they left the chapters on cliff-hangers. The thing I will remember most about this book is that inside the teddy bear Britt had, was a secret note. I would recommend this book to somebody who likes history and is interested in the world war because this book is set in the world war. I would also recommend this book to somebody who likes mystery stories. From this book, I learnt that in the war they had to put up big black boards to cover their windows so then the Germans couldn’t see them. There aren’t that many pictures and when you come across one they are pictures which have been drawn with pencil you can see this by looking at the lines. I really liked them.

Erin's review
Britt is my favourite character because she comes from a foreign country but everyone loves her after about 10 seconds. When Rory first met Britt, he hated that she would be hanging around. Even if I love Britt more, the other characters are really good and the names are brilliant for everyone’s personalities. I really liked the fact that they made the war their biggest priority and weren’t pushing it asked and going on a whole different adventure. The plot in the book is about a girl coming to stay with someone because she is a refugee. After the boy she’s staying with becomes more welcoming, the warm up to each other. The they start to go on an adventure with each other to uncover mysteries about the war. I think the plot is thought-provoking and unpredictable. The thing that is the best about ‘The Norwegian girl’ is that Britt and Rory had never met and when they did it seems like they’re just old friends. There is a list of books I would recommend to people I know and this book is definitely on it. The only bad thing I will say about this book is that I was expecting a bit more from it because of the blurb. Of course, the blurb got me hooked but it made the bar too high. I got a lot from the book, but there was a tiny bit more that I was hoping for. Overall, I really like this book.



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