A Review By Sam Fritz-Tate

 

Summary of Novel -  This book is set during WW II in Copenhagen and Gilleleje,  Denmark. The story is about a Danish girl, Anne Marie and her best friend, Ellen who is Jewish. They struggle to stay friends during the war and especially when Ellen goes to Sweden to hide from the Nazis. At the beginning of the story they are good friends living in an apartment building in Copenhagen. The Nazis put the Star of David symbol on places in the city where Jews are not allowed to go. Then stores owned by Jews are closed by the Nazis. Eventually the Nazis begin to relocate Jews. Ellen’s parents go into hiding with help from Peter who is a resistence fighter. Ellen stays in Copenhagen and becomes a member of Anne Marie’s family. The night that Ellen joins Anne Marie’s  family the Nazis raid the apartment building in search of Ellen’s parents. Anne-Marie’s parents decide to send all the children including Ellen to Gilleleje where Anne Marie’s uncle Henrik lives as a fisherman. Anne Marie discovers that her uncle is helping Peter to smuggle Jews out of Denmark.

Suspense - The book was really suspenseful at the end of the story when Anne Marie’s mother takes a group of Jews to the boat to escape to Sweden. The reader was not sure if Anne Marie’s mother was going to be caught by the Nazis. Another suspenseful part of the book is when the Nazis raid Anne Marie’s parent’s apartment. I was worried that the Nazis might discover that Ellen was a Jew. In other words the suspense was great in this novel as in lots of other novels set in WWII.  Rating 

Character Development - Some of the characters like Kristi –Anne Marie’s sister– are developed a lot in the story. Kristi is three when the war stars and is nine by the end. At the beginning of  the story she is a greedy, selfish little girl but when she grows up she understands what is happening around her and she starts to change her attitude toward other people. Anne Marie and Ellen change into teenagers in the story;
they are cautious and humble by the end of the story.  Rating 

Important Lessons - I learned that in WWII a lot of stuff was rationed and that there was not much time for fun. I realize how lucky I am not to have to grow up in a war situation like WWII. I think that what the Nazis did to the Jews was really wrong because they were being hurt and killed only because of their religion. Your religion should not be a reason to be persecuted. What matters is what you are like inside not what you are on the outside. Rating 

Imagination - Imagination was great in this story! The setting was described well: wherever the characters went in the story, the places were always really clear and interesting. I really liked the fact that the story was taking place in WWII. I liked the character Peter Neilson because he was a resistence fighter who saved many Jews.  I also liked the fact that the characters were constantly travelling. Another thing was that the characters were always described with feelings and emotions.  They were always brave and risked their lives to save other people. So I was interested in the Johansen family willing to save the Rosens from the Nazis.  Rating 

Difficulty- One of the things in the story that was hard to understand was how the resistence fighters held meetings in the synagogues because the Nazis would have searched the synagogues. I also didn’t understand how the Nazis could take all the meat in Denmark! I do not know what the title means. The vocabulary was just above my level. I had trouble with the family and place names. But I think that this book was just at my level. Rating 

Overall Recommendation - I think that Number the Stars is a great book and everyone should have a chance to read it.
Rating 
 
AUTHOR REPORT
Lois Lowry was born in Hawaii .She had a brother and a sister. Their names were John and Helen . They moved constantly because their father was a naval officer . They moved from Hawaii to NY She spent WW2 in her mothers home town of Carlson Pennsylvania.Then she went back to NY .By the time she was in college { Browns College, Rhode island} Her family was living in Washington DC .Her passion for books started in childhood because she didn’t have many friends and she loved books. She didn’t professionally write until she had a degree. She married young and had four children.