Review by Elizabeth, age 14

Susanna Dantine seems like a normal 14-year-old; squabbling with her mother and keeping her eye out for boys. However, things aren't that simple when you look closer. Painful memories of her father's death come all too often and her arguments with her mother aren't simply misunderstandings.

Susanna's life is certainly more complicated than the normal teenager's.

One day, a young puppeteer comes to her village to provide entertainment. His fresh face is a welcome sight in this close-knit community, and Susanna is intrigued. However, this only fills her with more questions and causes a "crowded feeling inside my head. There are so many things in there I need to think about." Wolf, the puppeteer, causes Susanna to question her actions, let go of what's inside of her, and share it.

Susanna is given two choices by Wolf in the alleyway between the church and the graveyard one night where they manage to escape alone: "Either you poke a hole in the [hornet's] nest with your finger and get stung all over, or else you run away as fast as you can." She's known this truth all along, but just wasn't able to word it in such a way. The decision is a hard one, but she makes it, and she doesn't feel sorry.

At first, this book didn't seem so interesting to me. I thought it would be another book about the normal trials and tribulations of the passage from childhood to adulthood. However, I was proven wrong. In subtle ways, the author suggests you consider someone else's point of view and act on what you believe. The author is Dutch, and the book was translated into English, so it is coming from firsthand experience, not an American author trying to imagine what it must be like to grow up in the Netherlands.

Reading about European culture from the inside was something new and fascinating to me.

However, since the book was originally published in Dutch, there were some gaps. It felt at times like I was missing something, like there were words that couldn't be replaced with English ones. There was also a lack of challenging vocabulary; possibly for the same reason. However, the author made up for it with a plot that kept me interested and wanting more. I couldn't wait to turn the page. I recommend this book to those looking for a quick read that leaves them feeling that they just read a huge novel.