And Both Were Young by Madeleine L'Engle

Set in the late 1940s, Madeleine L’Engle’s first book for young people is a boarding school story about an American teen, still recovering from the loss of her mother, and how a friendship with a serious French boy with demons of his own brings both solace. Philippa Hunter, known as Flip, had hoped to travel with her artist father – he is working on illustrations for a book about lost children throughout Europe and Asia, including those from WWII. Instead, his possessive girlfriend, Mrs. Jackman, has arranged for her to attend a boarding school in Switzerland.