Becky's Review of Number the Stars

Lowry, Lois. 1989. Number the Stars.

Number the Stars is a Newbery winner. It is the story of a young girl, Annemarie, and her family. The book is set during World War II in Denmark, 1943 to be precise. Annemarie and Ellen are best friends. The two live together in the same apartment building. The two go to school together. The two do practically everything together. But all that is about to change, you see, Ellen and her family is Jewish. And while the soldiers--Nazis--have been occupying Denmark for over a year, their policies are about to change. There is danger in the air, and everyone--young and old--can feel it. This is the story of two girls, two friends, and two brave families. I always enjoy reading about the war and the holocaust from the danish perspective. For one thing, the resistance movement is strong, powerful. Denmark was a nation with people who cared, who took risks, who did the right thing, who saved lives. I think this book can be read and enjoyed by everyone--no matter your age--despite the fact that it is a "children's book."

I read this book for three reasons.

1) It is part of the Book Awards Challenge. It is a Newbery winner.
2) It is part of the Something About Me Challenge. It is on Booklogged's list. Booklogged writes, "I really like Lois Lowry, both as a person and an author. The other reason I chose this book is because my ancestor are from Denmark, which is the setting for this story." I like Lowry as well. This one along with The Giver and Gossamer make her a must-read in my opinion.
3) I haven't read it in nine years. But the first time I read it, I had a very emotional reaction to it. I was *inspired* to seek out other titles about the war and children--especially holocaust related titles. This book started a life-long interest in the subject. And I did want to share that.

raidergirl3 update: Ender's Game and Number the Stars

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
recommended by Becky and Karlene

winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula award

Great science fiction book, even though I seldom read sci-fi. Andrew Ender Wiggem is the child hero, chosen to save the world from the next bugger attack, sure to decimate the Earth. He is rather brutally trained to be a commander, and his struggle to accept his role at command school and within his family, is an interesting read about self and solitude. Thanks for the suggestion, I quite enjoyed it.

full review on my blog

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Newbery Winner 1990

recommended by booklogged

Thanks for the book recommendation, and not just because it is a short, children's book. That made it easy to pick up, but the story of what makes bravery was touching as well. Lowry tells the story of a girl during the Nazi occupation of Denmark in the early 1940s, and choices made by the Danes to smuggle Jews out of their country. It was another terrific read from these lists of books.

full review is here at my blog

Review: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Last week I read "Number the Stars", for the Something About Me reading challenge. Two of Lois Lowry's books were nominated, and after reading this one, I'm hoping for time to read "The Giver" as well. This is a very well developed short novel, and I really enjoyed it. I must say, I've read many books about German children during World War II, and never one about Danish children during World War II. I'm sure in some high school history class I probably knew that Denmark was occupied by the Nazis, but it gave me no more of a passing fancy than that. This book gives you yet another perspective of those who were terrorized by the Nazi regime. Oh, and did I say it made me want to visit the Netherlands? Lois Lowry will be hearing more from me.

I'm kinda getting into this YA genre! Oh yay, another 10,000 books for my TBR list. Great.