Today is our third guest submission for consideration to be a new Blue Bookcase writer. Please give a warm welcome to Liese, and for those who aren't caught up on our new call for writers, visit this post for more details. Let us know what you think about Liese's style and if you want to see more from her!
It’s about: Paris officers round up a young Jewish girl and her family during the night in Paris, 1942. Before they are required to leave their home, the young girl hides her three year-old brother in a locked cupboard assuring him that she would return to release him when they were safe. Little did she know they were to be taken to an extermination camp. This is the story of a girl from the Vel de Hiv 1942 round up who sets out to discover a way to get back to rescue her brother before it is too late. In 2002, Sarah, an American journalist living in Paris writing for an American newspaper based in Paris, is asked to research the Vel de Hiv roundup to write a commemoration piece to honor those who were victims. Her life is turned upside down as she discovers secrets that link her family and the young Jewish girl.
I thought: This book gives a new perspective to the events of WWII. Most historical WWII novels take place in Germany, but this takes on the event of the Vel de Hiv Roundup is a touching story that makes you appreciate family and the need to defend those who struggle. The chapters are only a couple pages long and switch back and forth between both stories. I read this book in one day and could not put it down. In that time I cried, felt angry, and felt my heart melt at the warming experiences shared. Even though it is fiction, I felt like every part of it was real and I felt so connected to each character.
Verdict: This book became such a hit between my friends and I and we have recommended it to everyone we know. I will read this book again and again.
Warnings: There is a little bit of language and also controversial subjects, such as abortion.
Suggestion: This is the perfect book to read when you have the time to sit down and take it in. If you read it on a busy day it will be hard to appreciate its message.
