Book Summary: Annemarie's friend Ellen and her family are in trouble when the Nazi's come to Copenhagen. Ellen's family is Jewish and the Nazi's are beginning to deport Jewish people out of the country. Annemarie's family is not Jewish and is able to take Ellen in and pretend that she is the recently deceased Lise. This is not easy as Ellen has dark hair and Annmarie's family has to find photos to prove that Ellen is indeed 'Lise' when the German soldiers come. Annemarie acts quickly and rips off Ellen's Star of David necklace so that it doesn't give her away. Annemarie is charged with helping Ellen and her family escape to Sweden and again Annemarie is confronted by soldiers and asked about what she is doing. Ellen's family is safely taken to Sweden.
APA Reference: Lowry, Lois. (1989). Number the stars. New York, NY: HMH Books.
Impressions: My impression of Number the Stars was suspenseful. I know it is a book for younger readers but I still found myself wanting to fast forward to the resolution. When the soldiers came to the house to ask about the Rosens I was sure they were going to catch Ellen, but thankfully they didn't. I was also very worried for little Annemarie taking her package to uncle Henrik- how dangerous! I'm now interested in reading this with a small group in class to see how they respond to the suspenseful parts as well. I want to know if I panicked because I have a lot of knowledge about this topic or if the text really does pull you in regardless of background knowledge.
Professional Review: The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabbi Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction--a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943. Five years younger than Lisa in Matas' book (below), Annemarie Johansen has, at ten, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events--but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors. A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards--not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews.
[Review of Number the stars] (1989). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lois-lowry/number-the-stars-2/
Library Uses: I would want to make a display of young people (fictional and nonfictional) who did heroic acts and include this as one of the selections. It could also be part of a study on different religions and we could incorporate other stories that deal with Judaism.
