Number The Stars

NUMBER THE STARS REVIEW
Nikyla

In the breathtaking historical fiction, Number The Stars, by. Lois Lowry, it's 138 pages covers so much emotion and hope with an ending that leaves you wanting more. I guarantee you cannot put the book down. This book shows loyalty, and to not take life for granted because at any time, it could change drastically in a matter of days. There were many events in this book that kept you hooked, especially the run from the Nazi soldiers. But every story has to start somewhere, and it started with a little girl, Annemarie.

The setting takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II. Annemarie, the main character, has a friend named Ellen. Ellen was different though. The thing is, during World War II, her kind of people were dubbed as a monstrosity. What is this kind of people? It was the Jewish "race". Their life was normal; school everyday, dealing with Annemarie's sister Kirsti, and playing together but all of a sudden their world got turned up side down. In the matter of days the average normal day was no longer in tact. Before Annemarie knew it, Ellen had to abruptly stay in Annemarie's home. It was great for Annemarie that her best friend is moving in, but she was wondering why is it so sudden. Why isn't Ellen's parents moving in either. When Ellen stays, she has to take off her Star of David.

Peter, Annemarie's dead sisters fiancée payed a visit one night. Which was kind of fishy because she hasn't seen him for a long time, but their family loved him like their own. When he and her parents explained everything that was happening to Annemarie, she didn't know what to think. Her parents are going to hide the Rosens and bring them to Sweden, which was safe zone for the Jews during this moment in time. She was scared for Ellen. What would happen to her? She contemplated to herself that night whether shed' do everything in her power to save Ellen; she determined she would.


Everything went on as normal until an abrupt visit from a few Nazi soldiers catch them off guard. Annemarie and Ellen broke the chain of Ellen's Star of David necklace and hid it quickly as the soldiers came into the room. When the guards question why they have an extra kid that looks nothing like Kirsti and Annemarie, they get skeptical. Then when their mother hands them a picture of Kirsti, Annemarie and Lise, Annemarie's dead sister. The soldiers look closely, ignoring the date printed onto the picture. Annemarie was thinking how lucky she was that Ellen looked relatively like Lise. Next the soldiers leave without another word. That was close. Too close in fact that Mrs. Johansen takes Ellen, Annemarie, and Kirsti to visit Uncle Henrik up north.

They couldn't just up and leave. The Nazis would get suspicious and come after them. So they start preparing a funeral for a non-existent great aunt. This helped because it gives a reason to have so many people in their house, which consists of Ellen's parents and other Jewish people. After the funeral, Peter and Mrs. Johansen each take a group of Jewish guests out of the to safety.

Alone Annemarie's mom gets back and happens to be injured from a bad fall. Shortly later, Annemarie discovers that an important package Ellen's father was supposed to take to Henrik never made it. Since her mother in injured, she can't take it. So that means Annemarie has to go. She hides the package in a basket with food and hurries through the woods to her uncle's boat. Before she could reach the boat, she met some Nazi soldiers and their dog on the way. They wanted to see what was in her basket, and Annemarie told the. That it was food for her uncle. They didn't believe her so one soldier grabbed piece of bread out of the basket, sniffed it and threw it to the ground. Next, he told her to scram. So she did, and get the basket safely to her uncle.

When the Nazi soldiers brought their dog to sniff out Hendriks boat, the dog didn't pick up a scent. This was because the stuff in the basket had a special ingredient that kept the dogs from finding people hidden on his boat. To think, if she didn't bring the package toy uncle Hendrik, Ellen and the other Jews wouldn't have gotten to safety because they would have been caught by the dog.

The book concludes two years later, when the war is coming to an end. Peter was discovered and killed by the Nazis. After. Conversations about Lise and Peters young and unfortunate deaths, Annemarie went into her room. She walked over the Lise's trunk and grabbed the broken necklace. After asking her dad to repair Ellen's Star of David necklace. "Until then," Annemarie told him, "I will wear it myself."

This is a fantastic read that I would recommend to anyone. It is definitely a hair raiser, and it shows true friendship. Annemarie hasn't seen Ellen for two years and still is waiting for her to return. I believe his book could give a few good lessons; to never give up even with how difficult it could be, there are good people out there that are willing to risk their life for you and be there when you need help, that true friendship does exists, and that you can't always do things on your own, it's okay to get help. It pays off in the long run.