"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry

Lowry, Lois (1989). Number the Stars. New York, NY: Yearling.

1990 Newbery Medal Book

Ten-year-old Anne Marie Johansen finds out that the German occupation of her beloved Denmark has become much more serious when she notices Jewish families disappearing. Her Jewish best friend Ellen Rosen and her family are in danger! The Johansens manage to hind Ellen in their home while the rest of Ellen's family is in another safe place for the time being.

Mr. Johansen then calls upon his brother-in-law Henrik for help. Henrik is a fisherman with a boat that saves many lives by providing safe passage to neutral Sweden. Anne Marie shows exteme courage when she must do her part to help the Danish resistance along with her beloved friend and resistance fighter Peter Nielsen to save Ellen and many other Jewish lives. She must transport an important package to her uncle Henrick, and she knows she could be killed doing so. But her friend and others are too important at that moment to let fear paralyzed her resolve.

This is a fictional story set in a true historical event. When Denmark found out that Jews in their country were to be sent to the death camps, the Danish resistance managed to help 7,000 Jews escape to Sweden. Lois Lowry is so believable that one wonders if Anne Marie is not a real life character.

While visiting the most impressive Holocaust museum in Washington D.C., I came across a small fishing boat on display. I did not have time enough to read the caption and I was perplexed as to its meaning. Reading Number the Stars cleared my confusion, and now I am left speechless once again. While trying to come up with specific writing talents that Lowry used in her book, it just seems so unimportant at this time. The book moved me that much...