Lucille Abendanon

The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree

“ASTONISHING!” – Newbery Medal winner Karen Cushman

“A POWERFUL STORY OF COURAGE AND HOPE.” – Lisa Schmid

“A TRIUMPH OF A DEBUT.” – Meg Eden Kuyatt

THE SONGBIRD AND THE RAMBUTAN TREE

Inspired by the life of the author’s grandmother, The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree is a mesmerizing novel of belonging, friendship, hope and survival. Set in Indonesia, this is World War Two as you’ve never seen it before.

For readers from 10 to 110.

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The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree book cover

Hello!

I’m Lucille Abendanon, author of The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree. Thanks for stopping by.

Here you’ll find out more about the book, as well as go behind the scenes to discover the incredible person who inspired this story: my Oma Emmy.

There are some brilliant infographics about World War Two in the Dutch East Indies, as well as a country fact file on wonderful Indonesia.

I am very fortunate to be working in partnership with NIOD – The Insitute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Beeldbank WO2 archive in The Netherlands. The images of Tjideng prisoner of war camp are shared, with permission, from their incredible photographic archives. The images of the camp are appropriate for a middle grade audience.

I hope you enjoy looking around!

Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.