By Ruth Gruener
This book packs a powerful punch! Although it is a fairly short read it is full of intense situations and detail! The book had me celebrating each triumph and afraid of each near death experience. Ruth and her family were definitely very fortunate to not fall into the German's hands, but how they survived is inspirational. What moved me most was the occasional addition of wise words of wisdom, for instance "We never know how the way we behave toward another person may come back to affect us at a different time." A seemingly small act of kindness is what kept Ruth and her family out of the German clutches.
Ruth begins the story explaining that she was very young at the beginning of the holocaust, that her family was rather wealthy as the owners of a local candy store. As the German's insidious power invaded Poland, Ruth and her family slowly began to loose much of their freedom. They had to give up all of their wealth, their furniture and their apartment, finally being forced to move into the ghetto. Her father was able to find work outside the ghetto, which is how he convinced a friend to hide Ruth for many months. When things became to dangerous for that family, Ruth was reunited with her parents and hid with the Oyafs until the end of the war. That is not the only remarkable aspect of their story, how they found their way to America and all of the steps they had to make in order to make it here, wow!
I enjoyed this book, it flowed nicely and was very powerful. I am giving this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. My biggest criticism is that the book was broken into rather large chunks that were hard to break up, for smaller quick reads. I think smaller chapters over parts would have been better. I feel that this book would be good for 4th thru 8th grade and would be enjoyed by boys and girls. This is a very good book and would be a good addition to a class library and a entertaining read for anybody.
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