Sara Young (Pennypacker) biography

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Sara Young (Pennypacker)

Sara Young (Pennypacker)

Sara Young (Pennypacker) Biography

Sara Young, also known as Sara Pennypacker is the author of seventeen children's books, including the New York Times best-selling Clementine series; Summer of the Gypsy MothsPierre in Love; Sparrow Girl; and The Amazing World of Stuart. She has also contributed four books to the venerable Flat Stanley series.

Her books have won numerous awards, including a Golden Kite Award and a Christopher's Medal, many children's choice state awards, and have appeared on many 'Best Books' lists.

She splits her time between Florida and Massachusetts.

Sara Young (Pennypacker)'s website

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Interview

Sara Young discusses My Enemy's Cradle, her first novel for adults set in a Lebensborn, a Nazi-run maternity home for unwed mothers carrying children deemed to be "racially pure".

Warning: This interview contains potential plot spoilers!

An Interview with Sara Young, author of My Enemy's Cradle

Cyrla lives with her Dutch relatives in Nazi-occupied Holland. She has been successfully hiding the fact that she is half-Jewish—until neighbors threaten to expose her identity. Through an cruel twist of fate, Cyrla enters a Lebensborn as her pregnant cousin, Anneke. Cyrla wants to keep her child, though, so she resolves to leave the maternity home before the baby is born. But an unexpected visit from the German soldier who fathered Anneke's baby complicates her plan to escape. My Enemy's Cradle is a story of love and loss, sacrifice and survival.


How much did you know about the Lebensborn program before you began working on My Enemy's Cradle? What about this relatively unknown episode of history appealed to you as a writer?

I knew nothing about it before I took a walk with a friend, a WWII buff, who mentioned it. Right away I was shocked that something this large, that affected so many people, was largely unknown—that was the first appeal. But soon, as a writer, I began to wonder why no one had set a novel in such a ripe situation: a Lebensborn home was a natural crucible ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Sara Young (Pennypacker) at BookBrowse
My Enemy's Cradle jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Sara Young (Pennypacker) but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Diane Ackerman

    Diane Ackerman

    Poet, essayist, and naturalist, Diane Ackerman is the author of many highly acclaimed works of nonfiction, including A Natural History of the Senses -- a book beloved by readers all over the world and the volumes Deep Play, A... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    My Enemy's Cradle

    Try:
    The Zookeeper's Wife
    by Diane Ackerman

  • Chris Bohjalian

    Chris Bohjalian

    Chris Bohjalian is the author of twenty books, including The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; The Double Bind; and Midwives which was a number one ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    My Enemy's Cradle

    Try:
    The Sandcastle Girls
    by Chris Bohjalian

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