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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Hauntingly harrowing…
I needed time to digest this after finishing. I needed time to reset my soul and pick my heart up off the floor.
For me, books relating to the holocaust always hit different… harder. Such a gruesome part of our history that we don’t give enough attention to, nor appreciate the true horrors innocent people were forced to endure.
This story captivated me as much as it destroyed me. Going through, I consolidated myself with the fact that this was ‘based on a true story’, telling myself that perhaps some things were exaggerated for Jack Gruener, and then I got to the end and my heart climbed up my throat as I read the summery of his experiences— just wow!
This book as a whole was so well done— it consumed and broke me.
I needed time to digest this after finishing. I needed time to reset my soul and pick my heart up off the floor.
For me, books relating to the holocaust always hit different… harder. Such a gruesome part of our history that we don’t give enough attention to, nor appreciate the true horrors innocent people were forced to endure.
This story captivated me as much as it destroyed me. Going through, I consolidated myself with the fact that this was ‘based on a true story’, telling myself that perhaps some things were exaggerated for Jack Gruener, and then I got to the end and my heart climbed up my throat as I read the summery of his experiences— just wow!
This book as a whole was so well done— it consumed and broke me.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Heel erg indrukwekkend verhaal. Het enigste wat ik wat minder vond was het feit dat het best klinisch was er allemaal gebeurde en er weinig dieper op in gegaan werd.
Picked this one up because my son read it, and I wanted to be able to discuss it with him. The heavy topic of the Holocaust is handled well, and unflinchingly.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My daughter has been reading this book with her 7th grade English class. So I decided to read it with them. It is such a good introduction book to the hardships and struggles of Jewish people during WWII. Based on the real life experiences of Ruth and Jack Gruener. It’s wonderfully told, and tells the power of hope and the amazing strength of the human spirit.
I would give it a million stars if I could. Such a sad horrible story but written by such a talented writer.
i found my initial review that i wrote on december 2, 2019, when i was barely 10 years old and in 4th grade, meaning i rated my books on my little crappy blog on a scale from "very bad" to "very good". so naturally i had no idea how to write proper book reviews and they were all just summaries of the book, but i thought it was such an incredibly terrible post that showed just how far i've come as a writer that i'm linking it here >>> prisoner b-3087
well. i mean, what is there to say? this was a historical fiction book that deeply impacted my later elementary school years, during the pandemic when i was chronically online and ironically read less. but alan gratz's books were my lifeline, and this one in particular remains ingrained in my memory.
i reread this for a reading challenge where i was to read a book from my childhood, and there are just so many memories in this. i'm older now and i know logically that it no longer would have the same appeal, but reading this brought up so much nostalgia from the past. i was surprised how much of the plot and characters came back to me while i was reading because i thought i forgot everything, but it turns out i read this enough times back then to know all these lines and take comfort in the familiarity of them.
i used to love alan gratz so much during my historical-fiction-only phase. besides projekt 1065, which will always have a special place in my heart, this was my favorite because this was my 2nd gratz book with refugee being the first (didn't enjoy that quite as much), and i think young 4th grade me was so shocked by the descriptions of the holocaust in it. it made me realize back then the full impact and devastation of the nazi regime on jewish people because before that it was just numbers and facts, but this book brought their suffering alive for me. i think it was like a hook for my subsequent wwii addiction — actually, my entire historical fiction addiction.
but yes, this book is definitely middle grade and suited for upper elementary schoolers, so i can no longer review it properly and i wished i hadn't missed a chance to do it well when i was younger instead of just summarizing the book. now i'm reading it 5 years later, so of course i can't make a good judgement since it's way out of my age range. but in its genre, it does very well imo — definitely one of my favorite books in 4th and 5th grade. i feel like in elementary school i found it hard to find good middle-grade historical fiction, so gratz was always my go-to option. luckily he almost never let me down.
well. i mean, what is there to say? this was a historical fiction book that deeply impacted my later elementary school years, during the pandemic when i was chronically online and ironically read less. but alan gratz's books were my lifeline, and this one in particular remains ingrained in my memory.
i reread this for a reading challenge where i was to read a book from my childhood, and there are just so many memories in this. i'm older now and i know logically that it no longer would have the same appeal, but reading this brought up so much nostalgia from the past. i was surprised how much of the plot and characters came back to me while i was reading because i thought i forgot everything, but it turns out i read this enough times back then to know all these lines and take comfort in the familiarity of them.
i used to love alan gratz so much during my historical-fiction-only phase. besides projekt 1065, which will always have a special place in my heart, this was my favorite because this was my 2nd gratz book with refugee being the first (didn't enjoy that quite as much), and i think young 4th grade me was so shocked by the descriptions of the holocaust in it. it made me realize back then the full impact and devastation of the nazi regime on jewish people because before that it was just numbers and facts, but this book brought their suffering alive for me. i think it was like a hook for my subsequent wwii addiction — actually, my entire historical fiction addiction.
but yes, this book is definitely middle grade and suited for upper elementary schoolers, so i can no longer review it properly and i wished i hadn't missed a chance to do it well when i was younger instead of just summarizing the book. now i'm reading it 5 years later, so of course i can't make a good judgement since it's way out of my age range. but in its genre, it does very well imo — definitely one of my favorite books in 4th and 5th grade. i feel like in elementary school i found it hard to find good middle-grade historical fiction, so gratz was always my go-to option. luckily he almost never let me down.
'We are alive,' I told him. 'We are alive, and that is all that matters. We cannot let them tear us from the pages of the world.'
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Based on a true story, Jack lives through the WWII, getting sent around various camps and somehow always surviving. He was strong and caring.
This is a great book that describes the details of the holocaust from a kid's point of view.