MAGGIE DE VRIES's novel, Hunger Journeys, won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize and was called ?historical fiction at its best? by CM magazine. She has written seven other works for young readers, as well as Missing Sarah, a memoir about her sister, a victim of serial killer Robert Pickton, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. A former children's book editor and a writer-in-residence for the Vancouver Public Library, she now focuses on her own writing and teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia and. She lives in Vancouver.

"First, that is a lie. You are not trying to take a train to Germany. Second, your papers are false. Do you think you can trump up false papers and just walk onto one of our trains?" (Hunger Journeys)

It's World War Two in Amsterdam. Lena leaves her starving family to travel by train with her friend Sofie to Almelo, a town close to the German border, in search of food. It's a risky plan. The girls have false papers and are quickly pulled off the train by German soldiers. Only by fluke do they get back on again-with the help of Albert, one of the soldiers. After Lena discovers that the train had also been used to transport Jews to concentration camps, she fears her new friendship with the well-meaning Albert may lead her into more danger. Sofie, too, befriends a soldier, a relationship that quickly turns serious and has unfortunate consequences for both girls.