Number the Stars- The Sad Truth About the Holocaust

Bibliography:
Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. New York: Yearling.

Awards:
Newberry Medal Winner
An ALA Notable Book
An American Bookseller Pick of the Lists
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

In her novel, Number the Stars, Lois Lowry tells the story or a young woman, Annemarie Johansen, who is living in Copenhagen during the initial stages of the Holocaust. It's the true story of Annelise Platt, who is a Holocaust survivor. In the book, Annemarie is forced to deal with the fact that her best friend, Ellen Rose, is Jewish and must flee the country with her parents in order to save their own lives. Annemarie has never dealt with anything like this before, and she doesn't completely understand everything that is happening to her friend. However, her uncle Henrik gives her some invaluable advice: "it is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything." In the end, Annemarie is eventually able to help her friend's family find refuge in nearby Sweden , but not without finding the inner strength that she never knew she had.

Although this book's reading level is fairly low, the issues that are addressed throughout the plot might be difficult for some younger readers. Annemarie must deal with the possible death of her best friend, and the hatred that Hitler and the Nazis have toward the Jews. These are very heavy issues, and they can be hard for students to deal with, considering the fact that everything in this book is true. I think that it should be taught, however, so that kids today know what these Jewish people went through as a result of one very evil man's desires.

I think that this book would be a great companion book for The Diary of Anne Frank. It's a great bridge to a classic. Teachers could break students into groups and have them discuss how this book, and Annemarie's situation, compare with Anne Frank's everyday life in Nazi Germany. It aso ties in with the historical elements of the Holocaust, which makes this book a great cross-curricular read. It could be assigned as a whole class read, or it could be considered for small group reading. Either way, it is helpful in teaching students more about this period in history. I would suggest this book for students seventh grade and up.

I thought the book was good, altough I would have lied for it to go into more detail about what happened to Ellen after the war. I could really feel for the characters in this story, and I wish I knew more about how they survived everything once they got to Sweden.