Nothing Else But Miracles, by Kate Albus

(Hardcover, 288 pages, first published in 2023)

From the author of A Place to Hang the Moon comes another World War II story about three siblings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Twelve-year-old Dory Byrne lives with her brothers on New York City’s Lower East Side, waiting impatiently through the darkest hours of World War II for her pop to come home from fighting Hitler. Legally speaking, Dory’s brother, Fish, isn’t old enough to be in charge of Dory and her younger brother, Pike, but the neighborhood knows the score and, like Pop always says, “the neighborhood will give you what you need.” There’s the lady from the bakery, who saves them leftover crullers. The kind landlord who checks in on them. And every Thursday night, the Byrnes enjoy a free bowl of seafood stew at Mr. Caputo’s restaurant. Which is where Dory learns about the hand-pulled elevator that is the only way to get to Caputo’s upper floors. The elevator that’s so creaky and ancient, nobody’s been in it for decades. Until now.

The Byrnes’ landlord dies unexpectedly and the new one is anything but kind. When he catches on about Pop being gone, he turns the Byrnes in, hoping they’ll be shipped off to an orphanage. Dory and her brothers need a hideout, and suddenly the elevator and the abandoned hotel it leads to provide just the solution they need.

Based on a very real place in old New York and steeped in the history of the last year of World War II, Nothing Else but Miracles shows how, when things get tough, the neighborhood really will give you what you need… and may even offer up a miracle or two in the process.

Kate Albus is the award-winning author of A Place to Hang the Moon, a JLG Gold Standard Selection, An Indie Pick, An ALSC Notable Children’s Book, A CCBC Choice book, and an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner.

Cautions: This book contains a very innocent, budding romantic relationship between Dory's brother and a girl at school (including a peck on the cheek), as well as an even more modest budding relationship between Dory and a boy in her class. There are two uses of the Lord's name in vain (one in Italian), one other mild language instance, and a few stray supernatural / superstition references. The story also includes a few instances of lying. Dory seems to morally struggle with the lies but still makes them and without consequences; however the broader arc of the story includes much personal growth for her, and it seems reasonable to infer that the Dory at the book's end would not have told the lies that the Dory at the book's beginning did tell. Overall, this is a heartwarming story of three siblings during WWII, all of whom are ultimately sacrificial and kind. See Redeemed Reader's review here.

Ages: 10-14