Even If We Cry

Title: Even If We Cry

Author: Terrie Todd

Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction,

Source: Author Provided

My Review:

Even if We Cry by Terrie Todd is a standalone novel set in Canada. 

I was quickly drawn into the story. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to put my children on a ship and send them so far from home, especially with the oldest one only fourteen. Obviously, the world was different in the 1940s, but I can't imagine the reality of doing it. 

Nina is put in charge of keeping her younger siblings together and watching them on the ship as they cross from England to Canada. With Hazel suffering from seasickness and Geoffrey's curiosity knowing no bounds, it's a difficult passage.

The children's letters to their parents were super sweet, and heartbreaking at the same time. The story is heavy, as you would expect from a wartime story, but it is also hopeful. There were pops of humor and mischievous events that kept the story from feeling too heavy.

I have avoided war stories for quite a while, but having always enjoyed reading Terrie Todd's books, I knew I wanted to read this one. I was not disappointed. There is so much happening in the story, and it will tug on your emotions, but I highly recommend Even if We Cry, especially for fans of historical fiction.

Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Synopsis (Goodreads): 

Nina’s one task is to keep her family together while a world war threatens to rip them apart.
Warned they “mustn’t cry,” British teenager Nina Gabriel and her two young siblings board a ship bound for Canada as part of the WWII child evacuee program in 1940. Nina’s mischievous brother and seasick sister test her limits on the long voyage—but her burden of responsibility grows still heavier in Canada.

Determined to fulfill her promise to her parents, Nina battles to keep the siblings together through what they all hoped would be no more than one school term. Months turn into years. Unfamiliar Canadian customs, a foster sister who resents them, the mysterious deaths of their host family’s other children, and the birth of a new brother back in England complicate Nina’s world. It doesn’t help when David, the boy she’s grown to love, enlists in the air force with no end to the war in sight.

When a telegram arrives after a London bombing, will Nina find a way to fulfill her promise for the brother she’s never met? Will the Gabriel siblings learn that each of them is loved, even if they cry?