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a_sleepy_berry's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was a book that younger me would have loved, and I'm glad that it is now available for Jewish teens like me to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Bullying, Genocide, and Hate crime
ravensandlace's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
I originally had no plans of reading this book. It didn’t quite appeal to me when I read the synopsis. However, this book haunted me. Everytime I would pursue Overdrive to find a book instead of reading the hundreds of books I currently own, this book was right there. Eventually I just decided to check it out and I’m glad I did. This was a great book and I think it’s very important to read.
Let’s preface this review with a little story so to speak. I had a history teacher that I loved. Mr. H sparked my love of history and I’m forever grateful to him for doing that. He was a great teacher and a lot of my classmates enjoyed him as a teacher because he was kind. You could go up to him and chat if you were having problems. He made boring parts of history fun and tricky parts of history easy to understand. He was a great teacher and I’m sad that due to sucky circumstances (don’t worry, nothing bad. Just budget cuts. You got to love small schools), he was let go when I was a senior. My siblings never got to experience him and that’s upsetting.
I bring up Mr. H because this is exactly how students in this book felt about their teacher, Mr. B. If Mr. H had assigned this assignment, of supporting or being against the Final Solution, I would have lost my mind. For those that might not be aware, the Final Solution is the Nazi’s soluation to the “Jewish problem”. It was to be a total destruction of the Jewish people and those deemed unworthy in the eyes of Nazis. I would have felt the exact same way Logan and Cade felt and I, too, would have been faced with the tough decision of reporting the teacher.
What’s truly mind boggling is that this is based on a true story. This assignment was given in a school in New York. Other types (like supporting slavery) of assignments like this were and are given all over the United States. I just want to know in what world did this teacher, or any teacher that assigns assignments like this, think this would be okay? There is already so much hate in this world and this just fuels the fire. There is no rational reason to assign these assignments. There are plenty of ways to creatively teach about the horrible parts of history without having to do assignments like this. I spent most of this book just shocked that the teacher, the principal and members of the community were okay with this.
Besides the plot of this book, there were other parts I enjoyed. I enjoyed the way the book was laid out. There were Cade and Logan chapters but there were also chapters of other characters that were a part of the story. Some probably weren’t needed but they added freshness to the story. Some chapters were text messages, phone calls set up like text messages and facetime conversations. It made the book seem fresh, more modern.
The one negative I have to say about this book is the romance blossoming between Cade and Logan didn’t really need to happen. I love books where a boy and a girl are best friends and that’s that. I wish this book had this but it’s okay. Their romance kind of got in the way of a much more important story. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it, but it felt wrong given the plot.
Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s so important and it brings up topics that we need to talk about. While the romance between Cade and Logan was a bit of a distraction, this book was still incredibly good. It’s a shame that it doesn’t have more reviews and more people should be aware of this amazing book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism and Bullying
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia
In this book there is a description of Hitler's propaganda used during World War II as the book focuses on World War II and the events that transpired. It's graphically described.
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