Historical Fiction- NUMBER THE STARS

Lowry, Lois. 1989. NUMBER THE STARS. New York, New York. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books. ISBN 0440403278
Plot Summary.
Annemarie Johansen is a ten year old girl growing up in Copenhagen, Denmark . The year is 1943 and life as she and her best friend Ellen Rossen knew before the war and the Germans taking over their town is just a memory. The girls and families learn to live with the invasion and are getting along with the help of each other until the “Jewish New Year.” Life changes for the girls and their families with these words” This morning, at the synagogue, the rabbi told his congregation that the Nazis have taken the synagogue lists of all the Jews. Where they live, what their names are.” They are “relocating “ the Jews. The families know they must do something and Annemarie senses the importance and danger that her and the Rossen family feel. The Johansen family is able to help the Rossens and a few others escape to Sweden, which has remained neutral. This is only accomplished with the bravery, and courage of a ten year girl, Annemarie who remembers the words of a little boy that said”All of Denmark is his bodyguard.”
The Johansen family is successful in getting the Rossen family and 3 others on a boat that will take them to Sweden when a VERY important envelop is discovered left behind. Annemarie does not what it is or what it means except that it is crucial that her Uncle receive it in order to save her friend. She runs through the woods and encounters the soldiers looking for Jews and even though she is scared her love for her friend gives her the strength to carry on the mission. Annemarie does make it and her Uncle is very relieved, and still Annemarie does not know why.
As she helps milk the cow Annemarie asks about her friend and why the envelop was important. Her Uncle tells her again “ You shouldn’t know this.” But as he thinks more he says to Annemarie, “ I will tell you just a little, because you were so brave.” Annemarie discovered that day that being brave is when “You risk your life”, and “don’t even think about it.” Annemarie and all of Denmark waited for the end of the war and better times again. Thousands of Jews were helped by the “Resistance” and there was a hope again.
The story of Annemarie and her best friend Ellen was so normal for ten year girls. They went to school, ran races, and played paper dolls yet the all this was while surrounded by German soldiers. As the families go through the struggles of day to day life you see how friends and neighbors help each other just as we see today in 2010. Bravery is everywhere and with it brings sadness, and death just as it does today. Annmarie is relatable to children and adults when she tells her sister fairy tales and refers to herself as “Little Red Riding Hood.” It made a visual picture that really helps understand where she found the strength to be brave and how she should behave in the shadows of the soldiers. The year is 1943 and Denmark has surrended to the Gremans a few years before and the reasons Papa gave were true. The story had fun and happy times mixed in with tense moments that had you sitting on the edge of your seat. Would the little “sassy” sister say something she shouldn’t, would the soldiers stop Mama on the train, would the Rossens be caught as they ran through the night each time you find yourself holding your breath for the answer. The Afterword is very interesting and helpful to understand what was the fictional parts and what was based on fact and history. I never knew that a “ handerchief” was really develpoed for keeping the dogs from finding the hidden passengers. The \theme of this story is one that many around the world still have today. “ The gift of a world of human decency- is the one that all countries hunger for still.”
Awards and Reviews
Newberry Medal Award 1990
Kirkus Review starred (1989)- A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards--not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews.
Publishers Weekly (October 26, 1990)- Set in Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943, this 1990 Newbery winner tells of a 10-year-old girl who undertakes a dangerous mission to save her best friend. Ages 10-14. (Sept)
School Library Journal (September 1997)- Readers are taken to the very heart of Annemarie's experience, and, through her eyes, come to understand the true meaning of bravery. (Mar. 1989)
Connections:
This book is written for fourth grade and up. The content is geared to children who have more of a background or knowledge of war, and history of other countries. It is a good way to introduce children to the effects of war and loss of freedom. The children in the story are able to tell their story from a ten year olds perspective. The questions and lack of understanding is familiar to children today as it was in 1943. Children are able to understand that this story took place in 1943 and that really was not that long ago. Many schools are still able to have guest speakers that lived through many of the events cited in the book. Our school is one of those that had the privilege of having a guest speaker that really put a face to the facts for the children, This was for our fifth grade students only but I remember walking through the halls hearing the children trying to take it all in and not really believing that events like that could have ever taken place. I would encourage students to research to determine what was fact and what based on factual information but was fiction,