Number the Stars

Number the Stars depicts what life was like for a young Jewish girl living in the time of the Holocaust. As the book begins, things seem normal until one day after school when Annemarie Johansen, her friend Ellen Rosen, and her little sister Kristi were stopped and questioned by German police officers. Weeks went by and Jewish stores were being shut down, rules became stricter, and the number of officers patrolling the town increased. Things in Copenhagen got so bad that Mr. and Mrs. Rosen decided it was best to flee the area and leave their daughter with the Johansen family. After being questioned by the German police, Mrs. Johansen decided it wasn’t safe enough for the girls to go to school so they go visit Ellen’s Uncle in a rural town far away. It is there that Ellen reunited with her parents at a fake funeral held to gather with other Jewish refugees. After a nerve-wracking mission, Annemarie was able to successfully help the Rosen’s and other refugees escape across the Baltic Sea to Sweden. Two years later, after the war ended Annemarie decided to go back to her home in Copenhagen to fetch the Star of David necklace to return to Ellen, since it wasn’t safe to wear during the war.

Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.