Night Spies

March 1, 2004
Gr 4-7-The courage of righteous Gentiles and partisans during World War II creates a focal point for this account of Jews hiding from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia. Gabi, her mother, and her cousin are given sanctuary in a Christian family's farmhouse. Max has joined his relatives after walking 10 kilometers from his own village following his parents' murder by the Nazis. The cramped conditions are clearly described as are the risks taken by the family and the priest. Gabi and her family can only come out after dark, and readers can feel the difficulty and boredom of remaining quiet and hidden. This isolation provides the impetus for the two youngsters to sneak out in the night only to find a group of partisans in the forest, and the children become scouts for them. Many books have been written about the Holocaust, but there is appeal in Kacer's oft-exciting story and its focused depiction of the drudgery and risks faced by the Jews and anyone who helped to combat the Nazis' progress. Peopled by well-drawn characters, this is an engrossing novel inspired by experiences of Kacer's own family. Some of the history is presented in a heavy-handed way and seems to be superimposed on the story itself, but for the most part the book will appeal to fans of Lois Lowry's Number the Stars (Houghton, 1989).-Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2004
Gr. 4-8. Based on her mother's experience as a Jewish child hiding in Czechoslovakia near the end of World War II, Kacer tells an exciting Holocaust story of kids active in resistance and rescue. A kind farmer shelters Gabi, 14, and her orphaned cousin, Max, in a barn, but the restless kids steal out at night, spy on Nazi soldiers, and act as scouts for the partisans in the forest. The story, part of the Holocaust Remembrance series for young readers, is upbeat; it is also realistic about the horror that haunts the survivors. The death camps are far way, but Gabi hears about them, and she mourns her family members killed by the Nazis. Unlike sentimental accounts of the Resistance, this shows that some of the partisans hated the Jews. In a final note, Kacer makes clear what's fiction and what's fact, and she includes a historical overview and chronology as well as photos of the place and people who helped her mother escape. Add this to the middle-grade Holocaust curriculum.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)