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The Extra (2013)

by Kathryn Lasky(Favorite Author)

3.45 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0763639729 (ISBN13: 9780763639723)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Candlewick Press

review 1: Fifteen-year-old Lilian (Lilo) Friwald enjoys a happy life with her parents in Vienna in 1940. But the family's relaxing evening together is interrupted by the intrusion of Nazis who send them to labor camps because they are Gypsies. The book then proceeds to cover the next five years of Lilo's life. As she watches others disappear, she forms a bond with another prisoner, Django, who tells her about a film being made by Leni Riefenstahl. She selects some of the prisoners to appear in crowd scenes or as stand-ins for the movie, and Lilo and Django are among those chosen. Although their lives are better in some respects that those in labor or concentration camps, they are still prisoners and don't share in the sumptuous meals eaten by the film crew. Worst of all, though, the... morey must beware the wrath of the volatile director who is prone to jealous fits and perfectionism. Reading the book is emotionally exhausting as Lilo manages to escape and find help in unexpected places. Despite some of its flaws such as the emotional distance through which the story is told, this is an important book simply because it presents yet another part of the Holocaust story and reminds readers that evil comes in many guises, even that of a beautiful and brilliant director.
review 2: This was a book that I couldn’t put down. It’s based on the true story of how propaganda film maker for Hitler, Leni Riefenstahl, used imprisoned Gypsies in her cinematic production of the Spanish Folk opera Tiefland during World War II. It’s a fictionalized account rooted in the true story of a young Romani girl from Austria, Anna Blach, who was Leni Riefenstah’s stunt double in the production of the movie. It’s an emotional story that leaves you shaking your head at the unbelievable events that unfold as prisoners are forced to be extras in an elaborate movie production taking place in the midst of war time atrocities. Author, Kathryn Lasky, does a great job combining fiction and facts in telling this important story of the mass murder of the Romani people by the Hitler regime. Author notes are included at the end of the book which provide helpful information with the historical facts on which the book is based. less

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