Number the Stars by Lois Lowry ISBN# 0-040-40327-8
In Number the Stars, Lowis Lowry has written a wonderful historical fiction work. The setting for this book is Denmark, the time 1942. With the Nazi troops gathering up all the Jewish citizens of Copenhagen, the Johansen family takes care of Ellen Rosen, a Jewish friend of Annemarie Johansen. The Johansens are members of the Danish Underground, who are spiriting Jews to neutral Sweden by boat. Due to circumstances, Annemarie must perform tasks that are extraordinary for a ten-year-old.
I have read this book more than once, and every time I read it, the more I have been impressed with the character development of the three girls. Kirsti is the typical younger sister, who wants to do what her big sister does, and Annemarie shows the perfect amount of fear combined with courage. And you can feel Ellen Rosen’s fear as she negotiates an unsure future without her parents.
The author shows her readers the importance of the Resistance Movement without getting into too much detail. The handling of why the Nazis are gathering the Jews is also handled appropriately for a ten to fourteen-year-old. In the book, we know that if the Rosens are caught the consequences are death, but we do not know that they would be among six million Jews to suffer that fate in such a horrible manner.
Lois Lowry has done it again. This book is great, and whenever anyone asks me for a historical fiction recommendation, Number the Stars is first on my list.
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