Book Review for Number the Stars

I read the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The main character, Annemarie Johansen, lives in Denmark during World War II. Annemarie’s family lives with many restrictions, no butter, limited sugar, no real tea, no coffee, and limited heat. These things seem small but the country of Denmark has been without these things for more than three years. Annemarie’s best friend Ellen Rosen is a young Jewish girl. During this time all Jewish people are being hunted by the Nazi army because of their race and their beliefs. One night Ellen comes to stay with Annemarie’s family because the Nazis have found out her address. The next day Annemarie, her mom, her little sister, and Ellen all get on a train to go to Uncle Henrik’s farm. They stay there because they are less likely to be found while there and they can relax a little bit until Ellen’s parents get there. A couple days later the Rosens are reunited on the farm and ushered quickly to a boat that will take them all safely to Sweden, which is still a free country. Annemarie and her family live peacefully in their home and every week they dust the Rosen’s apartment that is next door. In two year’s time the war ends and the Johansens along with all of Denmark celebrate and mourn for those who died.

Annemarie is a girl that’s at the age of 10. She is tall for her age and has long blonde hair. She puts the interests of people before hers because she truly cares about the people around her. In the book Annemarie has a conversation with her uncle that I think proves this and I would like to share with you.

“Brave?” Annemarie asked, surprised. “ No I wasn’t, I was very frightened.

“You risked your life” Uncle Henrik pointed out.

“But I didn’t even think about that! I was only thinking of-“

She risked her life for the safety of her friend and her family. She showed bravery that not every 10 year old can put out there. She ended up saving their lives.

I saw one huge theme in this book that truly stood out to me. I saw the theme of true friendship. Ellen and Annemarie had known each other for their whole lives and would do anything to save each other. Annemarie saved her friend in a dark time and I’m sure that Ellen would never forget that. When the war ended at the end of the book Annemarie took out her friend’s Star of David necklace and wore it herself until her friend’s return.

This book would definitely be classified as a historical fiction book. Most of the major events that happened in the book were real and the characters personal stories were made up. I really enjoyed this book because of the things that it taught me about World War II. I felt like the story was a sad story that had a huge impact on me, but the characters had a positive outlook on the events that made the story  a lot better.

I got my picture from: http://www.vermontteddybear.com/SellGroup/Star-of-David-Necklace.aspx?bhcp=1