Magda, Standing by Christine Fallert Kessides
The daughter German immigrants, high school sophomore Magda must quit school to help her family. Magda’s dreams of going to college and becoming a doctor are dashed.
Set during World War I, Magda Standing tells the story of a determined and resourceful young woman who finds a way to be tutored and complete high school on her own while caring for her depressed mother and her rambunctious three-year-old brother. When family responsibilities and schoolwork become too difficult to manage, Magda uses her allowance to get household help and barters for childcare so she can continue her studies. When America enters the war, Magda volunteers for the Red Cross and becomes a nurse’s aide so she can help wounded soldiers.
Readers familiar with the World War I Era and the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic will see that Kessides hits all the noteworthy beats: politics, the war, the pandemic, and social attitudes of the day. Part of the joy of well-researched fiction is finding the historic Easter eggs incorporated into the story. The author integrates these pertinent details in a natural and engaging way.
Kessides presents the narrative from a German American point of view. Magda’s parents immigrated to Pittsburgh to escape war and social unrest in late 1800’s Germany. The author also shows the reader the unfair and sometimes violent prejudice against Germans in the United States during the period.
Readers who like young adult historical fiction, books with solid families, and novels with resilient heroines will love Magda Standing.