The Wind Knows My Name

The author of A Long Petal of the Sea, a New York Times bestseller book, blends the past and present in this compelling and poignant book that follows the consequences of immigration and war on two children—one born in 1938 in Europe and the other in 2019—in the United States.

Austria, 1938. When Samuel Adler's father vanished on Kristallnacht—the night his family lost everything—he was six years old. Samuel traveled alone, only bringing a change of clothing and his violin, on the last Kindertransport train from Nazi-occupied Austria to the United Kingdom, which his mother had reserved for him.

Arizona (2019). Seven years later, eight decades later, Anita Diaz, a blind child, and her mother board a different train to escape impending peril in El Salvador and seek safety in the United States. Anita, however, finds herself alone herself in a camp in Nogales when their arrival coincides with the implementation of the new family separation policy. Through her travels to Azabahar, a fantastical realm she and her sister built back home, she finds solace.

Selena Duran, a young social worker assigned to Anita's case, enlists the assistance of a promising attorney from one of the best legal companies in San Francisco. Together, they learn that Anita has another relative living in the US: Leticia Cordero, who works at the house of Samuel Adler, who is now 86 years old. This information establishes a connection between the two lives.

The Wind Knows My Name is a time and place-spanning narrative that honors parents for their selfless acts and pays homage to kids who persevere through unimaginable perils while never giving up on their dreams.