Each and Every Spark

Gr 5-7–Penny and Marie are two 13-year-old girls living in Paris decades and worlds apart in this dual-narrative tale. Penny and her family have just moved to present-day Paris for her mother’s new job in an art museum. A typical teen, she is unimpressed by the City of Light and resents leaving friends behind. Marie, living in Nazi-occupied Paris with sister Heloise during World War II, mourns the loss of their parents and the peaceful life war has taken from them. Past and present meet when Penny stumbles upon a note Marie wrote in 1944 hinting at her involvement in the French Resistance. Intrigued, Penny sets out to learn more about the mysterious Marie. Determination—and the internet—help Penny find her and their lives come together in the novel’s uplifting, emotionally satisfying conclusion celebrating art, hope, and the stories of everyday people who shaped history. The setting is visualized in detail (readers enjoy a street-level view of both WWII and 21st-century Paris), and chapters alternate between the parallel storylines. Swinarski uses mirroring language to close one chapter and open the next to ease transition between the narratives and reinforce the characters’ emotional link across time. The cover art depicts Penny and Marie as white.