And Both Were Young by Madeleine L'Engle

Life has been changing too fast for Philippa. She desperately misses her mother and is still grieving her passing. She wants to be with her father, but instead he has sent her off to a boarding school in Switzerland. She doesn't get along with the other girls; she doesn't think she has anything in common with them. She's alone and miserable...and then she meets Paul, and everything changes.

And Both Were Young was originally published in the 1940s; it was republished in the 1980s and now again in 2011. The cover is decidedly modern (I'm not an historian, but did people really dress like that in post-war Europe?) but the text inside is all as Madeleine L'Engle originally intended (a foreward from her granddaughter explains how the original book was edited to remove some of the more romantic elements of the story). I think I liked this story even more knowing all of its history. Beyond the historical details, Flip's story is still relevant in today's world; sure, maybe few people are at an exclusive Swiss boarding school, but she's also dealing with mourning her mother, concern about a possible future step-parent, fitting in at school, loneliness and homesickness, caring about a troubled friend, and falling in love.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Bloomability by Sharon Creech
Dreams of Significant Girlhood by Cristina Garcia
Camilla by Madeleine L'Engle