SuitabookCode Name Kingfisher
Liz Kessler
- Reading
- Read alongside a pause before the wartime sections and after major discoveries. Invite the reader to track what Liv learns, what remains uncertain, and how the sisters’ experiences affect present-day relationships.
- Themes
- Family memory and silence: Liv discovers that Bubbe’s childhood included a sister and experiences that the family did not know about, while Bubbe’s dementia is worsening. The story presents silence as connected to painful history while also showing Liv offering support and seeking understanding.
- Courage, loyalty and resistance: Mila and Hannie are separated from their parents for safety, and Hannie becomes involved in the Dutch Resistance under the code name Kingfisher. The book presents this favourably.
- Friendship and social confidence: Liv’s closest friendship changes after the girls enter different class sets; Liv receives jokes about her clothes but hides that they hurt. The opening presents the teasing as painful and Liv’s fear of losing the friendship as a social pressure, but the wider treatment is unknown.
- Worth knowing
- The wartime material includes Jewish children being separated from parents, concealment, dangerous Resistance assignments, betrayal and tragedy. The present-day story includes worsening dementia, a move into care, friendship-based teasing and police involvement.