This wonderful book demonstrates the strength of the human spirit, even under governmental repression. 

A resourceful mother unravels the sweaters in order to make new sweaters, patterned ones that express joy and individuality, and she starts a kind of revolution come spring In search of a freer place where every child can go to school, a family moves from Fascist Portugal to Communist Czechoslovakia. It starts with a grey sweater she unravels into a ball of yarn, then an orange one, then a green one. Out of these three balls of wool, she begins knitting sweaters of all stripes and patterns, remixing the solid givens into previously unimagined possibilities.

Different as this new country is, however, it is far from ideal. In this new, grey world, the lack of freedom is felt in the simplest things, such as the colors one can and cannot wear. A story of refuge, adaptation, and change. It reminds us that better isn’t always perfect, and we have much to learn from one another.