Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1993)
In a third book about the Platts, who fled Germany in Journey to America (1970) and built a new life in L.A. in Silver Days (1989), youngest daughter Annie, 13, is attending a Quaker camp in WW II's last weeks. Still weak from an appendectomy, Annie blossoms at camp, easily making friends (especially with Tallahassee, an African-American in her cabin); enjoying a crush on a junior counselor;, becoming a favorite of the director; and starting a camp newspaper. Troubles echoing the world outside don't loom large, but, still, after Annie plays a cruel prank on an obnoxious, racist camper, her conscience troubles her. Home again, Annie finds her family in disarray. Ruth's soldier, traumatized by seeing the death camps, jilts her;, rebelling at Papa's close supervision, Lisa moves out; and when Tallahassee visits, Papa--already in turmoil because of his daughters' new independence--reveals his own racism. The conclusion--Annie confronts Papa ("You are just like the Nazis. This is why there are wars!"), then runs away, back to camp, where she realizes her own limitations before coming home for a reconciliation--is overtidy (Annie does have a lot of epiphanies at once); still, the lessons are valuable and the end is satisfyingly dramatic. Not as strong as its predecessors, but Platt family friends won't want to miss it. 1993, Atheneum, $14.95. © 1993 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 1993 (Vol. 46, No. 7))
It's 1945, and German-Jewish refugee Annie Platt (of the Platt family featured in Journey to America, BCCB 2/71, and Silver Days, 4/89) is twelve going on thirteen in an America blown by "the howling winds of change." Annie's adventures, however, are more local: despite her family's initial reluctance, they allow her to accept an offered (and free) place at a coed and multiracial Quaker summer camp. At camp, Annie makes a good friend, has a serious crush, finds a few idols, and develops a serious enmity with a girl who's a bigoted bully. It may sound like fairly traditional camp-story fare, but this is a thoughtful book about blossoming and independence that possesses a particular poignancy due to its characters and time. Levitin has the integrity to leave in loose ends and sad truths without making them the point of the book: there's no rapprochement between Annie and the bully (upon whom Annie plays a truly nasty trick), Annie and her African-American camp friend have a disastrous post-camp encounter, after which they never see each other again, and there are occasional reminders that the war has taken its toll on Annie's relatives (her father's family have all perished in the Holocaust). Readers will empathize with Annie's struggle to define herself in the face of her strong family, and they'll enjoy this well-written account of her summer adventures. R--Recommended. Reviewed from galleys (c) Copyright 1993, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1993, Atheneum, [192p], $14.95. Grades 5-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1993)
Continuing the story of the Platt family, begun in 'Journey to America' and 'Silver Days' (both Atheneum), the book is told from the point of view of Annie, the youngest of the three sisters. At twelve, Annie's personal issues of growing up are far more immediate to her than the world events of 1945. An opportunity to attend a summer camp becomes the catalyst for Annie to move beyond her home and family and to find what she wants to do with her life. Category: Fiction. 1993, Atheneum, 186pp.. Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.