This was a really meaningful book. Each child's account is written in first person, and the accounts aren't too lengthy--just enough to describe briefly what life was like before the war, elaborate on their time in hiding, and briefly describe life after liberation. The accounts were truly heart-wrenching. It's so hard to imagine these children being separated from their parents and everyone's desperation to just survive. I also was deeply saddened by the residual effects so many of these men and women had in their post-war lives. This was just a hard read. But it did really make the Holocaust feel really real--I got a sense of the emotions these children experienced. And just a recognition that sometimes terrible things happen, and there's no way to wrap it up in a pretty box and make it ok. I also came to really admire the immense courage of those who hid these children. I don't think I've ever thought this hard about what it would have taken to be someone who hid Jewish children. These people risked their lives (and their family's lives--even their own children's lives) to protect children they didn't even know. It's really a beautiful and incredible thing, and I hope I would have that kind of courage.
Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)
