Book Review: Number the Stars

Title: Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry
Age Suitability: 8+

We read this book to kick off a study of the Second World War - a fairly disorganised study, reading any books that take my fancy in no particular order! The characters are fictional, but the story is based on truth. Ten year old Annemarie lives in Nazi-occupied Copenhagen. When the Nazis move against the Danish Jews, the Danes step in to rescue them. Annemarie and her family help her best friend Ellen and Ellen's parents to escape first from Copenhagen and then by sea to Sweden. A heartwarming tale of human goodness (the Danes really did save almost the entire Jewish community), and of personal courage. The book is well written, is a fairly short and easy read, and there are no graphic descriptions of the horrors of war, making it more suitable for younger children than many books about World War II.