Number The Stars

Been a long time since I last blogged. But anyway, i'm back. One week without facing my laptop, so I've got my nose on books. I missed reading. Hahaha. And this book really captivated me:

Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her bestfriend Ellen Rose often think about the life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching in their town.

The Nazis won't stop. The Jews of Denmark are being "relocated", so Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be part of the family.

 Then Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission. Somehow she must find the strength and courage to save he bestfriend's life. There's not turning back now.

I discovered this book from my friend, Lea, who happens to be a girl who has the best taste of books ever. She told that it was a fascinating story and of course, it's true.

It's composed of a hundred-sixty plus pages and was published in 1989. Old book, yes... but captivating. For a person like me who loves world history, mainly, the second world war... I wouldn't be able to resist this one. And really, you wouldn't regret reading it.

The Johansens have plenty of excuses to help avoid the Nazi soldiers of getting the Jews. And I was terribly shocked by how bad those Germans are. Tsk tsk tsk. People in Denmark have to shut their lights out during the night and have those dark curtains to cover their house. What's even worse is the Danes only get scarce amount of food while the Nazis enjoy meat, bread and butter.

Anyway, my favorite chapter here is: Is the weather good for fishing? I really didn't understand what that meant until I realized that the Danes have a little space under their boats in Gilleleje where they hide the Jews and make it seem like there are only fishes in the boat. And to keep away the human-smelling dogs, they've got this chemical placed on a handkerchief that immobilizes the dog's sense of smell.

I think i'm spoiling it for you. So i have to stop here (my favorite quotation from the book):

"... it is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything. And so your Mama does not know everything. Neither do I. We know only what we need to know." --Uncle Henrik to Annemarie.

Annemarie is such a brave girl for an age like that.  This book is highly-recommended. It's 1990 Newberry Award Medal Winner. A really classic masterpiece.