17 Martin Street (review)

When an errant soccer ball shatters a Dublin store window, twelve-year-old Ben Byrne and his pals are stuck with the replacement cost. To raise his share, Catholic Ben takes on the job of shabbos goy for his new Orthodox Jewish neighbors, lighting the fire for them every Sabbath. Ben hides this activity from his bigoted father, but it's worth the risk in order to make friends with the Goldens' daughter, Hetty, whose standoffish ways don't quite mask her reciprocal interest in Ben. Intrigued by stories of a German immigrant girl who is hiding in the area to keep from being deported back to Nazi Germany, Ben and Hetty track Renata down and enlist the help of both their families to offer the girl refuge, ultimately securing Renata's safety and bridging the social chasm between Mr. Byrne and his Jewish neighbors. Although Renata's story, which frames the novel with her opening and closing journal entries, supplies dramatic tension, the real draw here is witnessing the daily struggles of two very ordinary Irish families as they cope with rationing, labor actions, a bombing, and the constant fear that the enemy will cross the channel onto their shores. This Irish import will enhance any World War II historical fiction collection.