Starred Review Vincent, an Englishman, recalls a story he heard in his late teens. Falling ill while walking through southern France, he is taken in by Kezia, an elderly Roma woman, and Lorenzo, her lifelong best friend, who speaks in his own limited language and cares for the local flamingos. Kezia tells Vincent about growing up during the 1940s. She helped her parents run their handmade carousel, which Lorenzo loved to ride. Called "gyppo girl" (a racial slur) by the local children, she hated school, so Lorenzo's mother taught her to read. During the German occupation, her family moved their caravan onto Lorenzo's parents' remote farm and hid from the Nazis in their farmhouse. Despite suffering during the occupation, they rebuilt the carousel, and they endured. Morpurgo, the author of War Horse (2007), transports readers back in time and tells a beautifully layered story in three eras: the lightly delineated framework of Vincent's present and past, and the absorbing account of the two children and their families during WWII. Most notable are the portrayal of Lorenzo, whose clear limitations pale next to his strengths, and the inclusion of a compassionate German soldier who helps the families when he can. A vivid, memorable story of children in wartime.