Number the Stars
Lois Lowry
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Summary
Annemarie Johansen is ten years old, and even at such a young age, she begins to vaguely understand the animosity of the occupying German soldiers against the Jews. Set during World War II, Annemarie watches as her family assists her best friend Ellen’s family to escape relocation.
Reaction
I vaguely remember picking up Number the Stars to read when I was a young teen and for some reason, I never finished it. Since then I have read another of Lowry’s books, The Giver, on the recommendation of a friend and I knew that I needed to come back to this book.
Number the Stars is juvenile fiction that follows a ten-year-old girl’s experience in Denmark during World War II. I find, for myself, that difficult, historical stories told through a child narrator provides a different and interesting perspective. Annamarie’s character development as she begins to understand everything going on around her with the German soldiers is very interesting. Her childish desire to help and learn to be brave is believable and something I would have greatly respected when I was a child.
While told from a fictional perspective, the author worked to make sure that the events she related were historically accurate, which appealed to me as a reader. She included an afterward to share some of her historical findings.
Websites
Author Website
Other books by this author:
Fiction
Bless This Mouse
Like the Willow Tree
The Birthday Ball
Crow Call
The Willoughbys
Gossamer
The Silent Boy
A Summer to Die
Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye
Autumn Street
Taking Care of Terrific
Us and Uncle Fraud
Rabble Starkey
Stay! Keeper’s Story
Looking Back
Fiction Sets
Anastasia Krupnik Series – 9 Books
The Sam Krupnik Series – 4 Books
Caroline & J.P. Tate – 3 Books
The Giver Quartet – 4 Books
The Gooney Bird Books – 6 Books
