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bexwalsh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
gaynorcaw's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Quick easy read aimed at young people really brought the story to life. Thanks Tom Palmer
jessicaboodavis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Even though this may seem like a children's book, how it focuses on those who were traumatised by the Holocaust is heartbreaking. It's an emotional tale which shows how lost children of the Holocaust were after it had finished and how their lives drastically changed.
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
Tom Palmer used to write books for kids about sports like rugby and football (soccer), but more recently he has turned his storytelling skills to historical fiction. Last year, I read D-Day Dog, a story I found to be very informative, as does the present-day protagonist Jack. This year, I was intrigued to read After the War after hearing about it for an event on World Book Day, March 4, 2021 in connection with the Anne Frank Trust.
After the War is a fictionalized story based on true events that happened after the war ended. In 1945, 300 Jewish children who had survived life in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust were sent directly to the Lake District in England.
It's summer 1945 when 15-year-old Yossi, and his two friends Mordecai and Leo arrive in England in one of 10 planes, each carrying 30 young Holocaust survivors. They have been told they are safe now, that they will all have enough to eat and a room of their own with a bed and electricity, and most importantly, there will be no guards. But after six years in a concentration camp, could they really trust that?
Arriving at the Calgarth Estates on Lake Windmere, where they will live for the next few months, the children find it difficult to trust people and what they say, and to give up the survival habits that kept them alive in Auschwitz, especially when it comes to food. So despite there always being enough to eat, Yossi, Leo, and Mordedai stuff as much food as they can into their pockets to save for later - just in case there isn't enough food then.
Slowly, however, they begin to gain weight, becoming healthier and stronger. They even begin to develop trust again, thanks to the the kindness of the people of the Lake District and those in charge of them at Lake Windmere. Soon, they are back in school and learning English, and since their stay is only temporary, they also need to start thinking about the future and what they will do. The Red Cross arrives visits to obtain information about the children's families in order to try to reunite them with relatives who might have also survived. Yossi hopes that they will find his father, whom he wants to believe is still alive, even though they were separated on a death march towards the end of the war. Yossi watched as his younger sisters and mother went to the gas chambers the night they arrived in Auschwitz, but he and his father were selected to work.
Hoping against hope that the Red Cross will find his father, Yossi is unable to think about moving on. The three friends, who have become family to each other, want to stay together, but can't agree on how to do that. Mordecai, who is deeply religious, wants to join the Jewish community in Leeds after they reached out to the children at Lake Windmere, while Leo wants to go to Palestine, believing they would be safest there.
But recovery and recuperation aren't as easy as clean sheets and enough to eat. Yossi, who is the main protagonist, is haunted by his memories of the things he witnessed before the war in Poland after the Nazis invaded and life first in the ghetto and later in Auschwitz. These memories are seamlessly woven into the story as incidents in Yossi's present ignite flashbacks in his past. Sensitive and caring, Yossi has a minor breakdown one day when he seems to have given up and, not seeing any point to it, refuses to get out of bed. Laying there, he recalls his father's words "...if we let ourselves go, the Germans will think they are right, that we are not human." His father believed that getting up and washing every morning in Auschwitz was an act of defiance, of resistance to the Nazis, and Yossi determines it is still true. Will the memory of his father give Yossi what he needs to be able to get up and move on?
People sometimes forget that when a war ends, it isn't over, that there are always serious after effects. In this short, very readable novel, those after effects are clearly presented. Palmer depicts the children's survivor behavior in their present circumstances, relating it back to what happened in the concentration camps in the most heartbreakingly poignant way. And while he doesn't graphically describe the cruelty and the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Jewish men, women, and children, he gives enough detail that readers can get a clear picture of what happened then and the challenges the children now face.
After the War is a powerful book about courage, friendship, hope and resilience and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Be sure to visit Tom Palmer's After the War webpage for more information, including a link to read the first chapter, a link to hear about his researching and writing After the War and so much more.
Although After the War is fiction, you can find more information about the children who were brought to Lake Windmere at the The Lake District Holocaust Project (BTW, 10% of author royalites are donated to The Lake District Holocaust Project).
After the War is published by Barrington Stoke in a dyslexic friendly font, layout, spacing and page tint that makes it easier to read (and since I'm dyslexic, I can honestly say it does).
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was purchased for my personal library
After the War is a fictionalized story based on true events that happened after the war ended. In 1945, 300 Jewish children who had survived life in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust were sent directly to the Lake District in England.
It's summer 1945 when 15-year-old Yossi, and his two friends Mordecai and Leo arrive in England in one of 10 planes, each carrying 30 young Holocaust survivors. They have been told they are safe now, that they will all have enough to eat and a room of their own with a bed and electricity, and most importantly, there will be no guards. But after six years in a concentration camp, could they really trust that?
Arriving at the Calgarth Estates on Lake Windmere, where they will live for the next few months, the children find it difficult to trust people and what they say, and to give up the survival habits that kept them alive in Auschwitz, especially when it comes to food. So despite there always being enough to eat, Yossi, Leo, and Mordedai stuff as much food as they can into their pockets to save for later - just in case there isn't enough food then.
Slowly, however, they begin to gain weight, becoming healthier and stronger. They even begin to develop trust again, thanks to the the kindness of the people of the Lake District and those in charge of them at Lake Windmere. Soon, they are back in school and learning English, and since their stay is only temporary, they also need to start thinking about the future and what they will do. The Red Cross arrives visits to obtain information about the children's families in order to try to reunite them with relatives who might have also survived. Yossi hopes that they will find his father, whom he wants to believe is still alive, even though they were separated on a death march towards the end of the war. Yossi watched as his younger sisters and mother went to the gas chambers the night they arrived in Auschwitz, but he and his father were selected to work.
Hoping against hope that the Red Cross will find his father, Yossi is unable to think about moving on. The three friends, who have become family to each other, want to stay together, but can't agree on how to do that. Mordecai, who is deeply religious, wants to join the Jewish community in Leeds after they reached out to the children at Lake Windmere, while Leo wants to go to Palestine, believing they would be safest there.
But recovery and recuperation aren't as easy as clean sheets and enough to eat. Yossi, who is the main protagonist, is haunted by his memories of the things he witnessed before the war in Poland after the Nazis invaded and life first in the ghetto and later in Auschwitz. These memories are seamlessly woven into the story as incidents in Yossi's present ignite flashbacks in his past. Sensitive and caring, Yossi has a minor breakdown one day when he seems to have given up and, not seeing any point to it, refuses to get out of bed. Laying there, he recalls his father's words "...if we let ourselves go, the Germans will think they are right, that we are not human." His father believed that getting up and washing every morning in Auschwitz was an act of defiance, of resistance to the Nazis, and Yossi determines it is still true. Will the memory of his father give Yossi what he needs to be able to get up and move on?
People sometimes forget that when a war ends, it isn't over, that there are always serious after effects. In this short, very readable novel, those after effects are clearly presented. Palmer depicts the children's survivor behavior in their present circumstances, relating it back to what happened in the concentration camps in the most heartbreakingly poignant way. And while he doesn't graphically describe the cruelty and the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Jewish men, women, and children, he gives enough detail that readers can get a clear picture of what happened then and the challenges the children now face.
After the War is a powerful book about courage, friendship, hope and resilience and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Be sure to visit Tom Palmer's After the War webpage for more information, including a link to read the first chapter, a link to hear about his researching and writing After the War and so much more.
Although After the War is fiction, you can find more information about the children who were brought to Lake Windmere at the The Lake District Holocaust Project (BTW, 10% of author royalites are donated to The Lake District Holocaust Project).
After the War is published by Barrington Stoke in a dyslexic friendly font, layout, spacing and page tint that makes it easier to read (and since I'm dyslexic, I can honestly say it does).
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was purchased for my personal library
abookperson's review against another edition
3.25
Stars for the kids: 3.75 stars
Stars for me: 3.5 stars
After The War:
× Death - mother & sisters (quite triggering)
× Historical
× Intrigue
× Religion
× PTSD
Man beaten; mother and sisters ashes floating - quite triggering
× Big spaces between lines - easier if you have trouble reading
× Flashbacks
× Violence
Ending slightly apprupt but thats more because I thought there were more pages to read
Kinda sad we never got to know if the dad was alive or not; kind of an open ending not too sure about
Liked the English soldier son coming home
Also another kind of bleak story
Because it was more character driven and less plot, I struggled staying focused while also working through the weeks.
Doesn't feel like much of a plot occurs; it's more of a collection of painful traumatic flashbacks and hopeful recovery in the present. But I believe Palmer was trying to show the atrocities Jews faced for children to read about and he did that well; kids may be taught further empathy from this
"Now Yossi knew now that aeroplanes could take off. However heavy they were and whatever there was trying to drag them down, they could leave the surface of the water or the ground and fly anywhere they wanted to" - nicely put
Stars for me: 3.5 stars
× Death - mother & sisters (quite triggering)
× Historical
× Intrigue
× Religion
× PTSD
Man beaten; mother and sisters ashes floating - quite triggering
× Big spaces between lines - easier if you have trouble reading
× Flashbacks
× Violence
Ending slightly apprupt but thats more because I thought there were more pages to read
Kinda sad we never got to know if the dad was alive or not; kind of an open ending not too sure about
Liked the English soldier son coming home
Also another kind of bleak story
Because it was more character driven and less plot, I struggled staying focused while also working through the weeks.
Doesn't feel like much of a plot occurs; it's more of a collection of painful traumatic flashbacks and hopeful recovery in the present. But I believe Palmer was trying to show the atrocities Jews faced for children to read about and he did that well; kids may be taught further empathy from this
"Now Yossi knew now that aeroplanes could take off. However heavy they were and whatever there was trying to drag them down, they could leave the surface of the water or the ground and fly anywhere they wanted to" - nicely put
bluewithstars's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful story of loss and friendship. This is a wonderful story to use with a WW2 topic and we will definitely be getting this into class.
absolutive's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This a Young Adult novel, a fictionalisation of an incredible story that was unknown to me. For a brief period, 1945-1946, some 300 Jewish children, survivors of the Holocaust, lived in the English Lakes District. This novel follows the stories of three of these Polish boys and their interactions with survivors from other countries, staff at their estate, local people, and their own memories. Palmer vividly captures the fear and uncertainty, both physical and mental, that these boys face in this new, safe world. Every man in uniform, every time food will be served, every noise, every car, every new journey causes physiological responses and alarm. This is something I found very convincing but hadn't remembered from previous works (including of nonfiction).
The boys befriend a family in the Lakes District who have themselves become displaced after the bombing of Liverpool, and who have a family member missing from the war in Japan. This relationship is very moving, and it helps the boys and the family process their grief and trauma and heal.
I was frustrated that this novel does not explain why the boys stayed for such a short period of time in the Lakes District. There was some indication they could rejoin relatives, though almost no one was able to find a family member still living, even with the help of the Red Cross. The three central characters are 16-17 and they seemed to have a choice where to go--Poland, Leeds, Palestine--but why? They are minors. Who decides? Where did they go? Who is acting for and responsible for the refugees in this programme. I would like to learn more about this, and feel that the book, if not the novel, which includes some historical material in the endpages, should have engaged more with this story.
The boys befriend a family in the Lakes District who have themselves become displaced after the bombing of Liverpool, and who have a family member missing from the war in Japan. This relationship is very moving, and it helps the boys and the family process their grief and trauma and heal.
I was frustrated that this novel does not explain why the boys stayed for such a short period of time in the Lakes District. There was some indication they could rejoin relatives, though almost no one was able to find a family member still living, even with the help of the Red Cross. The three central characters are 16-17 and they seemed to have a choice where to go--Poland, Leeds, Palestine--but why? They are minors. Who decides? Where did they go? Who is acting for and responsible for the refugees in this programme. I would like to learn more about this, and feel that the book, if not the novel, which includes some historical material in the endpages, should have engaged more with this story.
cathyp72's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this sensitively told story of Jewish children rescued from Auschwitz and brought to an estate on the banks of Lake Windermere. Here it is hoped they can begin to heal and throughout the story the smallest details of things we take completely for granted today are shown to have such a huge significance for these survivors of concentration camps. From not having to fight for food, clean sheets, being able to learn... it's all written so beautifully. Mixed with the tragedy there is also hope and this is a hopeful book overall. An really great book overall.
emmycd's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
In 1945, 300 Jewish children from liberated concentration camps were sent to the Lake District in England. These children had suffered immeasurable trauma and many had lost their entire family. Here, they can learn to trust again, live again, feel safe again.
This was such a beautiful book and is so powerful in so few pages. References to the Holocaust are short, but don't hold back. However, these are shown through memories and so you flit from the present to the past meaning that the horror isn't dwelled on for too long which is good for the age group it is aimed at.
The only thing I would improve on is the ending. It didn't really say how the boys were supported or if they ever did go where they decided.
In 1945, 300 Jewish children from liberated concentration camps were sent to the Lake District in England. These children had suffered immeasurable trauma and many had lost their entire family. Here, they can learn to trust again, live again, feel safe again.
This was such a beautiful book and is so powerful in so few pages. References to the Holocaust are short, but don't hold back. However, these are shown through memories and so you flit from the present to the past meaning that the horror isn't dwelled on for too long which is good for the age group it is aimed at.
The only thing I would improve on is the ending. It didn't really say how the boys were supported or if they ever did go where they decided.
sloth_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I loved how this book told the history of what really happened after the war and the flashbacks to parts of the main characters life. Overall I really enjoyed this book and wold recommend it to anyone who is interested in history or learning about after and during the war.