Thirteen year old Clara and her family are deported from Prague to the concentration camp of Terezin. Through their experiences, the grimness and terror of the camp are shown in contrast to its rich cultural life. ( )

This is a truly remarkable chapter book for young readers as it tells the story of a Jewish girl and her family during the time of the Holocaust. I really enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. First, the author’s language was very descriptive throughout the book. The descriptive language is very crucial as the author is describing places, events, and time periods that we are not familiar with. The author’s details allow the reader to create a mental picture of the horrid lives and conditions that the characters lived in the ghettos. The next reason that I really enjoyed the book was because the plot was so well developed. The author presented so many conflicts that left readers wanting to continue reading. The conflicts were ones that we could never even imagine having including, death, starvation, escape, lies, and the threat of being sent to a concentration camp. The relationships that were formed amongst the characters allowed there to be love and hope during a horrid time. Finally, the book was wonderful because it was not all very negative. In telling the story of the play that the children participated in called Brundibar it gave readers a glimpse of how the characters coped in the ghettos and displayed hope and courage. The main idea of this book was to tell a story of a girl and her family living in a ghetto during the time of World War II. Although the characters the author created were fiction much of the story was based on true facts. ( )