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After The Train (2009)

by Gloria Whelan(Favorite Author)

3.39 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0060295961 (ISBN13: 9780060295967)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

HarperCollins

review 1: Although "After the Train" was a slow read at first, it became very interesting when the main character, Peter, discovered that he was not the child of the people that he thought were his parents his entire life. He discovers that his mother bravely saved him when he was to be sent to a concentration camp when he was younger. Although he was raised Catholic, Peter, decides that he wants to learn more about being Jewish since this is what his real mother was. The story follows Peter through the hardships of realizing that he was adopted and seeing how the Jews in his small town were still facing discrimination even after the fall of Hitler. Peter tries to figure out who he really is, and while he is discovering himself, he realizes how he can be both Jewish and the Catholic... more boy that he was raised to be. Peter makes good friends that help him discover the Jewish religion. This book was named as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book in 2010, and the story line is definitely more appropriate for an older audience due to needing to understand the background knowledge of what happened in Germany during World War II in order to understand the context of this story. I would recommend this book for a World War II unit in social studies in order to support the curriculum.
review 2: While I will push for this one to be on a summer reading list I can only give it three stars...I thought the story held promise...it was from a point of view worth listening to...while it dealt with the Holocaust it did not...I think the story ended flat...it took me a while to read and that in itself will be a major turn off for the student however it took a piece of information rarely touched and shed some light on it for the reader...I would place it at a fourth - fifth grade reader...Peter is raised christian and at the age of thirteen when everyone's life seems to be changing he learns he was really Jewish...that his mother - on her way to the death camps - handed him over to a stranger with the hopes of preserving his life...Peter fights with his inner demons as he helps to restore both a church and a synagogue...so the whole story was very good but then it just sort of stops...the only thing missing was the final page with the words "The End" shame less

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