Margit, Book 2: A Bit of Love and a Bit of Luck

Susan Merskey is freelance writer in London, Ontario.

The year is 1946 and World War II is finally over. Margit is thrilled
because her father has returned safely to his family after being held in
a concentration camp. The family is trying hard to do well in Canada,
their new home, but Toronto is very different from Czechoslovakia.
Despite Margit’s efforts to help him, acting as his guide and
interpreter, her highly educated father cannot find work in his new
country, which distresses him.

Margit starts to fail at school, particularly in science, though she
tries valiantly to hide this from her family. They have such high
expectations that she will do well in this new country. How can she
possibly disappoint them? Eventually, her parents discover the truth
when her teacher visits them. Their initial shock gives way to
encouragement and understanding. Margit and her father work out ways in
which he can help her with her science, while she can help him with
learning English and continuing his search for work.

This is Kathy Kacer’s second book about Margit and her sixth book
about the Holocaust and related issues. The experiences she describes
would have been all too common for children like Margit and their
parents as they tried to adapt to a new life in the years immediately
after the war. Kacer tells the story in a way that enables readers to
identify with what happened. Recommended.