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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
4.75 ⭐️
Ugh! What an inspiring book! I did keep it on the back burner for a bit because of other books that caught my fancy (*cough*James Herriot*cough*), but it did not disappoint at all.
Two brothers, Jacob and Moses Stein, are in Paris, France where the Nazis have occupied their beautiful country. With their parents gone and due to dire circumstances that forced them out of their home, their city, and alone, the two brave lads set out to find their parents and be a family again. Betrayal, love, and hope find the Stein brothers as they meet all sort of people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the hated, the belittled, and the targeted because of the unconditional love and compassion within their hearts for their fellow man, or in this case, two Jewish boys who want normalcy in the chaotic world of war.
I was on the edge of my seat (more like my bed, but you get the point) while I read this book, especially the middle to end part. I cheered them on and wanted to chuck the book across the room when there was a setback or the Germans were near and thwarted the Stein brother's plans. I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of WWII fiction, sibling relationships, and a whole lot of tear-jerking moments of goodness.
Happy Reading!✨
Ugh! What an inspiring book! I did keep it on the back burner for a bit because of other books that caught my fancy (*cough*James Herriot*cough*), but it did not disappoint at all.
Two brothers, Jacob and Moses Stein, are in Paris, France where the Nazis have occupied their beautiful country. With their parents gone and due to dire circumstances that forced them out of their home, their city, and alone, the two brave lads set out to find their parents and be a family again. Betrayal, love, and hope find the Stein brothers as they meet all sort of people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the hated, the belittled, and the targeted because of the unconditional love and compassion within their hearts for their fellow man, or in this case, two Jewish boys who want normalcy in the chaotic world of war.
I was on the edge of my seat (more like my bed, but you get the point) while I read this book, especially the middle to end part. I cheered them on and wanted to chuck the book across the room when there was a setback or the Germans were near and thwarted the Stein brother's plans. I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of WWII fiction, sibling relationships, and a whole lot of tear-jerking moments of goodness.
Happy Reading!✨
Favorite quote: “Once people begin to hate, they stop asking questions. Stop using their brains. They just look down on other people.”
What would it be like to be a Jewish child growing up in Europe during WWII? How would it feel to be separated from your parents? How terrifying would it be to undertake having to find them?
In Children of the Stars, author Mario Escobar makes these questions come alive. Young brothers Jacob and Moses Stein are forced to stay with their aunt in Paris during the Nazi occupation. Their parents have left them in order to search for work and a safe place for their family to relocate. After their aunt goes missing, the boys are forced to leave France and find their parents. They only have some letters from their parents to use as a map.
This is a beautifully written book that drew me in immediately. It shows not only the horrific French gendarmes that Jacob and Moses had to escape numerous times, but also caring, brave, and kind people who helped them along their journey. The boys’ sweet relationship and strong determination tugged at my heart.
The book is well researched, includes an accurate timeline, and it had me googling events that had sparked my interest.
NUGGET GAINED: Kindness matters.
Thank you Thomas Nelson, TLC Book Tours, and Mario Escobar for including me on this tour. I’m grateful for all of you today! This is an important story and needs to be shared.
What would it be like to be a Jewish child growing up in Europe during WWII? How would it feel to be separated from your parents? How terrifying would it be to undertake having to find them?
In Children of the Stars, author Mario Escobar makes these questions come alive. Young brothers Jacob and Moses Stein are forced to stay with their aunt in Paris during the Nazi occupation. Their parents have left them in order to search for work and a safe place for their family to relocate. After their aunt goes missing, the boys are forced to leave France and find their parents. They only have some letters from their parents to use as a map.
This is a beautifully written book that drew me in immediately. It shows not only the horrific French gendarmes that Jacob and Moses had to escape numerous times, but also caring, brave, and kind people who helped them along their journey. The boys’ sweet relationship and strong determination tugged at my heart.
The book is well researched, includes an accurate timeline, and it had me googling events that had sparked my interest.
NUGGET GAINED: Kindness matters.
Thank you Thomas Nelson, TLC Book Tours, and Mario Escobar for including me on this tour. I’m grateful for all of you today! This is an important story and needs to be shared.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-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
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars rounded to 4.
The plot was interesting at the beginning but about mid-way I started to lose focus. and interest The odyssey of two Jewish brothers escaped from France, to Spain and then to Argentina to reunite with their parents was slightly too long, and plain. "Children of the Stars" was my third book by the author. While I've always enjoyed his thorough research, but the plot developments were always flat.
My problem with the "Children of the Stars" were the never-ending problems they encountered. Points taken their journey was never meant to be easy, but too many of them were distracting especially after they arrived Argentina.
That being said, the author produced quality historical fiction. I will continue keep his works under my radar but might not be on top of my list.
The plot was interesting at the beginning but about mid-way I started to lose focus. and interest The odyssey of two Jewish brothers escaped from France, to Spain and then to Argentina to reunite with their parents was slightly too long, and plain. "Children of the Stars" was my third book by the author. While I've always enjoyed his thorough research, but the plot developments were always flat.
My problem with the "Children of the Stars" were the never-ending problems they encountered. Points taken their journey was never meant to be easy, but too many of them were distracting especially after they arrived Argentina.
That being said, the author produced quality historical fiction. I will continue keep his works under my radar but might not be on top of my list.
Jacob and Moses flee through France after they escape a deportation dragnet in Paris in 1942. They are searching for their parents who had gone into hiding in Valence a year before, leaving them with their aunt in Paris, with the assumption that no one would go after the kids. What follows is a heart-wrenching search for their parents, and a story of survival despite the odds stacked up against them.
I love Mario Escobar’s writing style, it is both simple and deeply beautiful, a mix that helps keep the narrative flowing but still makes you stop at times to savor the delicate wording of a sentence. I was excited to read this book as I grew up near Lyon and Valence, surrounded by the mountains where the presence of the maquis is still felt today. While I enjoyed the story, it wasn’t exactly as brilliant as I was expecting it to be. I ended up racing through it too fast, just because I was invested in the boys’ story, but felt that there wasn’t enough to pull me down and sit still for a minute.
I also felt that there was too much naivety in the novel. Granted, it is written through the boys eyes, and at 12/13 and 8/9, they are still young and innocent to the evils of the world. However, it’s the naivety of the adults that strikes me a slightly incredulous. The children’s parents escape Nazi Germany and settle in France, but refuse to think that the kids would be in danger in Nazi-occupied Paris? In 1941 things were already pretty dire in Paris, and surely the parents would have witnessed what the Germans did to Jewish children in Germany? If their aunt was unregistered why were the children registered as Jews? I also thought that for a 12/13 year old Jacob was a little naive too.
I however decided about a quarter of the way through the book to stop questioning the details and to just enjoy the prose and the story. Because ultimately Children of the Stars is a story of survival, endurance, love, and that despite the evil that may surround us there will always be shimmers of light, beacons of hope.
France has a very interesting and extremely difficult history when it comes to WW2. On the one hand there were collaborators who took advantage of the hatred the Nazis brought with them, on the other there were the amazing amount of people who did everything in their power to resist against the Germans and help those persecuted. There were many villages like Vassieux-en-Vercors were the populations were massacred in retaliation by German troops after the Résistance uprising in 1944, or like Chambon sur Lignon where thousands of Jews were sheltered during the war (this area appears in the book). I found that Mario Escobar manages to evoke this wide variety of human reactions and thoughts in his novel, as we see so many different characters react in so many different ways to the children. This was the part of the novel that I appreciated the most: the way the author portrays the array of characters who come in contact with the children and how they help and/or try to harm them. This is a solid 3.5 stars for me!
Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I am grateful to writers such as Mario Escobar who continue to write about, and educate people on, the atrocities that happened during the second world war. We must never forget.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I love Mario Escobar’s writing style, it is both simple and deeply beautiful, a mix that helps keep the narrative flowing but still makes you stop at times to savor the delicate wording of a sentence. I was excited to read this book as I grew up near Lyon and Valence, surrounded by the mountains where the presence of the maquis is still felt today. While I enjoyed the story, it wasn’t exactly as brilliant as I was expecting it to be. I ended up racing through it too fast, just because I was invested in the boys’ story, but felt that there wasn’t enough to pull me down and sit still for a minute.
I also felt that there was too much naivety in the novel. Granted, it is written through the boys eyes, and at 12/13 and 8/9, they are still young and innocent to the evils of the world. However, it’s the naivety of the adults that strikes me a slightly incredulous. The children’s parents escape Nazi Germany and settle in France, but refuse to think that the kids would be in danger in Nazi-occupied Paris? In 1941 things were already pretty dire in Paris, and surely the parents would have witnessed what the Germans did to Jewish children in Germany? If their aunt was unregistered why were the children registered as Jews? I also thought that for a 12/13 year old Jacob was a little naive too.
I however decided about a quarter of the way through the book to stop questioning the details and to just enjoy the prose and the story. Because ultimately Children of the Stars is a story of survival, endurance, love, and that despite the evil that may surround us there will always be shimmers of light, beacons of hope.
France has a very interesting and extremely difficult history when it comes to WW2. On the one hand there were collaborators who took advantage of the hatred the Nazis brought with them, on the other there were the amazing amount of people who did everything in their power to resist against the Germans and help those persecuted. There were many villages like Vassieux-en-Vercors were the populations were massacred in retaliation by German troops after the Résistance uprising in 1944, or like Chambon sur Lignon where thousands of Jews were sheltered during the war (this area appears in the book). I found that Mario Escobar manages to evoke this wide variety of human reactions and thoughts in his novel, as we see so many different characters react in so many different ways to the children. This was the part of the novel that I appreciated the most: the way the author portrays the array of characters who come in contact with the children and how they help and/or try to harm them. This is a solid 3.5 stars for me!
Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I am grateful to writers such as Mario Escobar who continue to write about, and educate people on, the atrocities that happened during the second world war. We must never forget.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I thought this was a sweet book - two brothers have to go on an epic journey to reunite with their parents during WWII. I felt like this book shared perspectives of the war/life at the time from many different people and I found their story heartwarming and inspiring
This story is could be a good intro into learning about the Holocaust for upper elementary school children.
Children might not notice it, but I was distracted by the many changes in perspective that happened with no warning; I was reading Jacob’s thoughts, but then all of a sudden it would be the thoughts of Trocme.
The only other item that bothered me was the text saying over and over again that anyone with hope and determination could overcome their situation, which is grossly inaccurate. Anne Frank was as optimistic as they come, and we all know the tragic ending she met.
Children might not notice it, but I was distracted by the many changes in perspective that happened with no warning; I was reading Jacob’s thoughts, but then all of a sudden it would be the thoughts of Trocme.
The only other item that bothered me was the text saying over and over again that anyone with hope and determination could overcome their situation, which is grossly inaccurate. Anne Frank was as optimistic as they come, and we all know the tragic ending she met.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This has been on my shelf forever, and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to read it. I enjoyed the unique perspective on WW2, which was that of two Jewish boys (12 and 8 at the start of the book) who are abandoned and searching for their parents. Their journey to find their parents has just enough adventure and misadventure and tragedy nearly missed to keep you reading but it's not too heavy.
While I enjoyed their journey, I did find the narration very stilted and the dialogue unnatural. Philosophizing was inserted into otherwise normal conversations between the boys and the adults who came in and out of their lives, and seemed jarringly out of place. I think the stilted narration was due in part to the fact that it is translated, which I understand, but still detracted from the reading experience for me personally.
I also couldn't get past the fact that their parents abandoned them but were still portrayed as being good and loving parents. I get that it was war time and all, but if I was separated from my kids - even at their older ages of 15 and 13 - during a time of war, I would move heaven and earth to be with them, even if it meant certain death for me. These boys' parents seemed perfectly happy to leave their kids in the hands of other adults and hope for the best.
While I enjoyed their journey, I did find the narration very stilted and the dialogue unnatural. Philosophizing was inserted into otherwise normal conversations between the boys and the adults who came in and out of their lives, and seemed jarringly out of place. I think the stilted narration was due in part to the fact that it is translated, which I understand, but still detracted from the reading experience for me personally.
I also couldn't get past the fact that their parents abandoned them but were still portrayed as being good and loving parents. I get that it was war time and all, but if I was separated from my kids - even at their older ages of 15 and 13 - during a time of war, I would move heaven and earth to be with them, even if it meant certain death for me. These boys' parents seemed perfectly happy to leave their kids in the hands of other adults and hope for the best.