Plot Summary - Set in 1938, Edith Westerfield if forced to leave Germany and live with family in Chicago, Il for her own safety. Her family is dealing with being Jewish in Germany and trying to avoid the Nazi regime. She doesn't fit in amongst the children in the United States. She is constantly worried about her parents back in Germany while living with family who truly didn't want her but the check they would receive each month to house her This is a story of survival and mourning the loss of everything she once had.
Personal Reaction - I had a hard time getting through this book, there were times I had to put it down. I couldn't handle the loss and sadness that this young child had to endure. I did finish it and I have to say, the book doesn't have a great ending. There aren't many holocaust books that do have good endings. She always struggled even as an adult about the loss of her family.
Memorable Literary Element - The story is told through the eyes of a young girl leaving Nazi Germany in 1938. The story is heart wrenching to say the least. There is a page in the back of the book that describes a program during this time that brought twelve hundred Jewish children to safety during WWII.
Review - Kirkus Reviews Most Holocaust stories for children focus on the inhumanity that took place in European countries; fewer deal with the severe hardships experienced by children sent to America and their struggles to assimilate into a foreign culture. Based on the experiences of the author's mother as part of the One Thousand Children project, this empathetic historical novel rings with authenticity. Edith Westerfeld is 12 when her parents send her from their German home to America. Almost half of the story takes place aboard the ship as she and the other lonely refugee children turn to each other to ease their fears. Life in Chicago is filled with discrimination; even her aunt treats her like a servant. The one bright spot is following Hank Greenberg's baseball career, but wearing her mother's Star of David doesn't keep him from being drafted or bring her parents to America (they die in concentration camps). The title's significance is revealed on the last page: As Edith mourns the loss of everything, she realizes that to honor her parents she must be willing to live. Moving. (Historical fiction. 10-13)
Promotion - An app will be downloaded into the class ipads that cover topics in this book. Below is a video about this app. This video would be included into the library webpage. This story would go along with a WWII and holocaust unit.
Personal Reaction - I had a hard time getting through this book, there were times I had to put it down. I couldn't handle the loss and sadness that this young child had to endure. I did finish it and I have to say, the book doesn't have a great ending. There aren't many holocaust books that do have good endings. She always struggled even as an adult about the loss of her family.
Memorable Literary Element - The story is told through the eyes of a young girl leaving Nazi Germany in 1938. The story is heart wrenching to say the least. There is a page in the back of the book that describes a program during this time that brought twelve hundred Jewish children to safety during WWII.
Review - Kirkus Reviews Most Holocaust stories for children focus on the inhumanity that took place in European countries; fewer deal with the severe hardships experienced by children sent to America and their struggles to assimilate into a foreign culture. Based on the experiences of the author's mother as part of the One Thousand Children project, this empathetic historical novel rings with authenticity. Edith Westerfeld is 12 when her parents send her from their German home to America. Almost half of the story takes place aboard the ship as she and the other lonely refugee children turn to each other to ease their fears. Life in Chicago is filled with discrimination; even her aunt treats her like a servant. The one bright spot is following Hank Greenberg's baseball career, but wearing her mother's Star of David doesn't keep him from being drafted or bring her parents to America (they die in concentration camps). The title's significance is revealed on the last page: As Edith mourns the loss of everything, she realizes that to honor her parents she must be willing to live. Moving. (Historical fiction. 10-13)
Promotion - An app will be downloaded into the class ipads that cover topics in this book. Below is a video about this app. This video would be included into the library webpage. This story would go along with a WWII and holocaust unit.