11. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

NUMBER THE STARS by Lois Lowry (Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1989)

GENRE: Historical

HONORS: Charlie May Simon Children’s Book Award, Charlotte Award, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award, Golden Archer Award, John Newbery Medal Winner, Maine Student Book Award, National Jewish Book Awards, Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award, Sydney Taylor Book Awards

REVIEW:

Racing home from school, ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend, Ellen Rosen, are stopped by a couple of Nazi soldiers who warn them that running makes them look like “hoodlums.”  Living in Denmark in 1943, Annemarie runs across soldiers like these nearly every day for the past three years, along with the poverty and lack of food that the Nazi-occupation has caused.  When the Germans begin closing Jewish stores, Annemarie’s family takes in Ellen, who is Jewish, and her parents go into hiding.  That night, the family is visited by soldiers demanding to know the whereabouts of the Rosens and a quick thinking Mr. Johansen shows the soldiers a baby picture of his deceased daughter to halt their questions about Ellen.  Mrs. Johansen takes Annemarie, her younger sister Kirsti, and Ellen to her brother’s house.  Once there, Annemarie discovers that her uncle has arranged to get several Jews to safety in Sweden, including Ellen and her parents.  However, when a package necessary for the journey is accidentally dropped, Annemarie must summon up all of her courage to rush through the woods and take it to her uncle in order to save her best friend’s life.

OPINION:

This book is a compelling story of a young girl’s courage and strength as she risks her own life to save the lives of others.  Although considered a novel about the Holocaust, it focuses more on the Danish Resistance and the people, like Annemarie’s family, that helped save many Jewish lives.  In this way, the novel serves to remember the true bravery of Danes during World War II, even when faced with a seemingly insurmountable force of evil.  Lowry writes in the afterword that there are parts of the novel based on her friend’s experience growing up in occupied Copenhagen, making the terror that much more real to readers.  There are also moments of suspense that will keep tweens reading to find out what happens, such as when Annemarie thinks her little sister is going to give them up when stopped by soldiers on the train.  Also, tweens will identify with the strong friendship between Annemarie and Ellen, even leading them to imagine how far they would go to help a friend. 

IDEAS:

This novel would be a welcome addition to library displays about Newbery Award winners, World War II, the Holocaust, and the people that fought in the Resistance.  Also, it would be a great book for classroom discussion about World War II.