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The Night War review by glitterunicorn9 | LitPick Book Reviews
The Night War review by glitterunicorn9
Age Range - 8 - 12
Genre - Historical Fiction
Five Star Award

LitPick Review

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Age at time of review - 12
Reviewer's Location - Lexington, Massachusetts, United States
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Ever since her neighbor Monsieur Rosenbaum has been taken by Nazis, Miriam Schrieber has been scared that her father would be taken in the same way. Miriam, or Miri, is a 12-year-old Jewish girl who is living in France after her house in Germany had been set on fire by Nazis. Even through her fear of those who she loves being taken away, Miri manages to enjoy a Jewish holiday called Gut Shabbos with her family and neighbors. However, the following day, news that the Germans are planning a round-up travels through the Jewish community. Since the Germans usually only took adult men, her father goes into hiding while Miri and her mother stay in the apartment. The next day, Miri goes out to buy food, only to return to her apartment trashed and her mother nowhere to be found. The officers begin to round up all the Jewish women, men, and children, and take them to a bus. Miri manages to escape from the bus along with her neighbor Nora. After escaping, Miri gets rescued by a Catholic nun, who offers her a safe space to stay. Since Miri knows enough French, she can blend in as a non-Jewish girl. But Miri is desperate to find her parents, and when she gets separated from Nora, she knows that she must do something in order to get back with her family. 

Opinion: 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think the author did a great job of setting up the scene of how France felt about the Jews who were trapped there. For example, when Miri went to go buy bread at the start of the book, the author did a great job of describing the dire conditions Jews were subjected to regarding food. Reading this story gave me a lot of insight into what it was like for Jews at the time. Additionally, since the book is written from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl, I was able to relate well with Miri. I understood just how devastating the circumstances were, even for young children. In addition to the great historical insight this book gave, I really liked the author's writing style regarding pace and clarity. The author did a nice job of making the story fast-paced and wrote the story in a way that even those who do not know much about WW2 can understand the events that occurred in the time period the story was written about. Overall, I think this is a fantastic book for all ages that allows readers to gain a better understanding of how the events of the holocaust affected children and families.

Rating:
5
Content Rating:

Content rating - some mature content

Explain your content rating: 

Some content may be triggering to readers under 10
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