The Righteous Smuggler

April 1, 2006
Gr 4-7 -Hendrik, the son of a poor Dutch fisherman in Holland, is taught by his father to help people who are in trouble. When Germany invades Holland on his 12th birthday, he continues to support and help his Jewish friends and neighbors and speaks out against the new Nazi teachings at his school. Eventually, he and his father join another boat captain to smuggle Jews out of the country. While the writing is uninspiring and laden with broad, sweeping statements and cliché s, the story is filled with suspense and adventure. Historical photographs and a map are appended. Lois Lowry's "Number the Stars" (Houghton, 1989) remains the most highly acclaimed fictionalized account of efforts to smuggle Jews out of Nazi-occupied territory, but Hendrik's story will especially appeal to boys." -Rachel Kamin, Temple Israel Libraries & Media Center, West Bloomfield, MI"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2006
Gr. 4-6. After the Nazis invade Holland in 1940, 12-year-old Hendrik risks torture and death when he and his fisherman father help Jews escape by sea. Such rescue adventures are always the most upbeat stories of the Holocaust, and this entry in the Holocaust Remembrance series is based on true events. In fact, it's the history, not the preachy first-person fictional story, that will hold readers. Children who have read the " Diary of Anne Frank" and have heard of some of the adults, such as Miep Gies, who rescued the persecuted, will best appreciate this account of an ordinary young person who tried to make a difference after he saw Jewish friends banished from school, forced into hiding, and packed into trains bound for the death camps. Unfortunately, the upbeat cover is jarring; more effective are several historical photos placed at the back of the book, which came from Holocaust museums in both the U.S and Israel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)