Skateway to Freedom

Elizabeth Siegel Masih is the editor of Write On: The Newsletter for
Young Canadian Writers and Readers.

East Germany, or else her father may end up in prison. She can take
nothing with her, not even her skates or a remembrance of her
grandmother, two of the most important things in her life.

Though Josie and her family survive the dangerous escape from their
country, and arrive safely in Canada, Josie’s problems are not over.
Poverty forces her family to live in a shed, and Josie must go to an
English school where the students make fun of her German accent and her
shabby clothes.

Things slowly begin to get better, however, when Josie receives a pair
of skates for Christmas and joins a skating club. On the ice, Josie no
longer feels as though a clumsy stranger, and gains the confidence to
begin making new friends. When she starts to feel like she belongs to
her new country, her journey to freedom is complete.

Ann Alma, an immigrant to Canada herself, tells Josie’s story in a
straightforward manner that clearly portrays the loneliness of being a
stranger in a new land. Her description of Josie’s escape from East
Germany (before the fall of the Berlin Wall) is realistic and
suspense-filled; equally compelling is her depiction of Josie’s first
day at school. Alma has made her main character so likable and real that
the reader is left with a great sense of satisfaction upon finishing her
story. Highly recommended.