Author: Laurel Holliday (well, she put the diaries into this book and wrote prologues for each. But the diaries are written by different kids)
Genre: Journal, Holocaust
My rating on a 1-10 scale: 7.5
Type: Non-fiction
Number of pages: 401
Time period: Holocaust, World War II
Main characters: Multiple
Exciting events: Well, some of these children witnessed horrible things. I suppose it could be called exciting.
Passage from book: (from the journal of 10 year old Janine Phillips) ...So I went to a nearby field to see if I could spot any German soldiers. I saw nothing but heard enough to last me for a long time. When I got about three hundred metres from the house, I heard bullets whistling around me. At first I didn't realise what was happening, until I saw puffs of dirt in the road. Someone was shooting at me. Immediately I lay down on the ground, too petrified to move. My heart was thumping like mad. After a while the shooting stopped. I didn't know what to do. The Germans must be quite near, I reckoned. I started to crawl, almost slithering like a grass snake. My dress, my knees and my hands were covered in dust. After several minutes, I heard a cow mooing. A bullet had gone through her hind leg...
My overall opinion: First. This is not a book for young readers. Though these are young people's journals. The book describes things the way that they were happening, and it can be a little scary for young kids, I should think. Secondly, there is one journal by an 18-year old that has some descriptions of inappropriate stuff. However, this can be avoided by reading the journal prologues. All in all, I'd say this is a good book. It makes you think. These kids are my age. Some are younger, a few are older. "Would I be as brave in their place? Were something as terrible to happen here?" Something to ponder. These journals tell of everyday life during the Holocaust. They describe the terrible things that started happening. The ghettos, there's even one journal from a concentration camp. Some of the kids survived...some didn't. :( Almost all (or maybe all, I can't remember) were Jews. Amazing book.
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