Puss Reboots: Blog: March 2008: Number the Stars

Recent posts

Book Reviews:

Bleach Volume 9 by Tite Kubo.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Marakami.
The Boarder by Alexander Jablokov.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry.
Count to Ten Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox.
Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen.
Exit Strategy by K. D. Wentworth
Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward.
The Four Ugly Cats in Apartment 3D by Marilyn Sachs.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen.
Frogs by Martin Schwabacher.
He Rents, She Rents by Richard Roeper and Laura Viera.
Hotel Cat by Esther Averill
Immortal by Traci L. Slatton.
The Ka of Gifford Hillary by Dennis Wheatley.
Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes.
Leadership Brand by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.
Lorna Doone (Abridged) by R. D. Blackmore
Lost Pilgrim by Gene Wolf.
The Magnificent Mummy Maker by Elvira Woodruff.
Manhattan is Missing by E. W. Hildick.
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes.
Mommy Hugs by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
The Overseer by Albert E. Cowdrey.
Park by Pierre Pratt
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.
Q & A by Vikas Swarup
The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association by Loren D. Estleman
Rumple What? by Nancy Springer
Sea Turtles by Emilie U. Lepthien.
The Second Descent by Richard Paul Russo.
Stanley in Space by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Scott Nash.
Take a Stand, Rosa Parks! by Peter and Connie Roop.
Tall by Jez Alborough.
Trucks and Diggers by DK Publishing.
Women & Self-Esteem by Linda Tschirhart Sanford and Mary Ellen Donovan

Miscellaneous:
Kirby Went to the Beach by Sean Sammis

Previous month

Number the Stars: 03/04/08

Annemarie Johansen is a ten year old girl who just wants to get on with her life of school, friends and family but it's 1943 and Denmark is occupied by Nazis. Things go from tense to dangerous when the Nazis begin to round up the Jews.

Although Annemarie isn't Jewish, she has friends who are. She learns first hand the danger her friends and their families face. The second half of this book covers how Annemarie and her family put themselves in danger to protect their neighbors.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry reminds me of The Key is Lost by Ida Vos. Lowry's novel is a story of friendship in extraordinary times and gives a brief glimpse of what life was like in Denmark in the last years of World War Two. Key is Lost is about Jewish sisters in Holland who go into hiding to escape the Nazis. With the extremely personal nature of Vos's semi-autobiographical novel, Key is Lost darker and more depressing.

Lowry's novel focuses on the extraordinary things people will do to help their neighbors showing humanity even in the darkest moments of human history. While by itself Number the Stars wouldn't be enough for young readers to learn about the persecution and genocide of the Jews during World War Two, it can contribute to the learning experience.