|
 "How
brave are you, little Annemarie?" Uncle Henrik asks his
ten-year-old niece. It is 1943, and to Annemarie Johansen, life
in Copenhagen is a complicated mix of ordinary home and school life,
food shortages, and the constant presence of Nazi soldiers. Bravery
seems a vague virtue, one possessed by dragon-slaying knights in
the bedtime stories she tells her younger sister, Kirsti. Too soon,
she herself is called upon for courage.
As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate"
all the Jews of Denmark, the Johansens take in Annemarie's best
friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is part of the family. Ellen
and Annemarie must think quickly when three Nazi officers arrive
late one night and question why Ellen is not blond, like her sisters.
Through Annemarie's eyes, we see the Danish Resistance as they manage
to smuggle almost the entire Jewish population, nearly 7000 people,
across the sea to Sweden. In this tale of an entire nation's heroism,
Lois Lowry reminds us that there is pride and human decency in the
world even during a time of terror and war.
"While the novel has an absorbing plot, its real
strength lies in its evocation of deep friendship between two girls
and of a caring family who makes a profoundly moral choice..."--BOOKLIST
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STAY! KEEPER'S STORY This
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NUMBER THE STARS Ten-year-old
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LOOKING BACK
It is a rare album memoir for both children and adults;
it's straightforward text is accompanied by beautiful and sometimes
heartbreaking black-and-white photographs.
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