No One Must Know

June 1, 2005
Gr 5-8 -When a cute blond boy saves Alexandra from being hit by a football at the beach, she has no idea that he will unlock secrets in her family that have been successfully hidden for years. She is disappointed when he heads off to the Jewish section, but it's 1960 in Canada, and that's the way things are. Alexandra and Jacob meet up again when school starts and begin dating, much to the dismay of her parents. They emigrated from Hungary long ago, but aren't willing to talk much of the past, or why they disapprove so much of Jacob. Alexandra begins piecing together clues bit by bit, but the whole truth finally comes out when a childhood friend of her mother appears unexpectedly, and Alexandra, raised Catholic, learns that her family is Jewish. The foreshadowing in this story allows readers to reach the truth long before Alexandra does, but her initial naï veté and later anguish ring completely true for a maturing young girl. Even the cover art of a girl with her hands over her eyes connects delicately on several layers as the story progresses and Alexandra grows up. A gentle and moving introduction to the enduring legacy of the Holocaust." -Paula J. LaRue, Van Wert City Schools, OH"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2005
Gr. 4-7. The author of " My Canary Yellow Star" (2001) and " Place Not Home" (1997) offers another novel about anti-Semitism, this one set in her adoptive country, Canada. In 1960 13-year-old Alexandra and her parents live in quiet comfort: Dad is a successful doctor, Mom stays at home, and Alex is active in her church and the Girl Guides. As Alex finds out, however, this normalcy is actually a facade. Her parents have kept secrets about their past; they are Hungarian Holocaust survivors who have hidden their religious identity in the hopes of giving Alex a better life. Wiseman brings anti-Semitisminto Alexandra's life in an even more direct way when the girl begins dating a Jewish boy, Jacob, and notices how he is treated. Although many of the characters are stereotypes, Alex's awakening to her real identity and to the insidious nature of prejudice are well handled and will strike a chord with readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)