Number the Stars

Number the Stars. By Lois Lowry. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1989. 137 pages. $11.00

"'Halte!' the soldier ordered in a stern voice...'Why are you running?'"  Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend, Ellen, were just two young girls racing each other to the corner.  They did not realize that their lives were about to change forever.

Lois Lowry's Number the Stars is set in Copenhagen, Denmark, shortly after it was occupied by Hitler's Nazis during WWII.  Before the German invasion, Annemarie and her friends and family had known only peace and happiness, but now they were faced with daily specter of soldiers in the streets, with their shining black boots and their rifles slung over their shoulders.  Still, they do their best to carry on with a normal life.  But one day, they learn that the Nazis are rounding up all the Jews in Copenhagen for "relocation"... and Annemarie's best friend, Ellen, is Jewish.

Annemarie and her family make a commitment to help Denmark's Jews escape a terrible fate, but they do so only  at great danger to themselves.  As the Nazis close in on Ellen and her family, the Johansens involve themselves in a desperate plan to save them.  If they are caught, they could all be arrested.  Or worse.

Lowry's fast-paced story races along to a dramatic climax.  Will Ellen and her family escape to safety?  Will Annemarie and the Johansens be able to avoid detection?  This book will keep you in suspense right up to the end.  In the process, you will see examples of great courage and boundless compassion.  This book is ultimately a reminder that we are indeed each others' keepers, and that we have a duty to our fellow men and women, regardless of whether we share the same faith or the same ethnicity.  Although this is not a true story, it was inspired by the very real heroism of the Danish people, who were able to save most of their country's Jews from the horrible fate the befell the Jews of almost every other country in Europe.  This is a memorable and inspiring book that will appeal to a wide range of readers.