Ashes

melodyf - "In wartime, nothing is safe" In Berlin, 1932, Thirteen-year- old Gabriella Schramm lived a happy and privileged life. As Hitler rises to power, everything suddenly became quite unreal as though nothing could have any consequences. People who were once trustworthy are now Nazis. Gaby and her best friend Rosa seemed to realize the transformations of their lives and the agonies of their country during the rise of Hitler. To face the reality, Gaby turns to the comfort of her books, but suddenly those are in grave danger of disappearing as well. To Gaby, holding on to the one thing she loved the most was never so hard. "I could still see Berlin faintly, its buildings rising like a scratchy calligraphy, words in a sentence strung across a page. A page I couldn't quite read" Through a young women, Kathryn Lasky describes a personal and political history that will haunt readers. I would give this book a 101/100 if you ask me to rate it. Reading this book, I imagine myself as Gaby. I smelled the ashes she smelled and I felt my own eyes stinging as Gaby saw the sea of brown uniforms. I really enjoy this page-turning book because every word from this book affected me deeply. I recommend this book to all ages and genders because Gaby's gripping story will haunt everyone.

January 4, 2010
In this thoughtful historical novel, Lasky (the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series) chronicles Hitler's rise to power in 1932 Berlin through the intelligent narration of 13-year-old Gaby. The action proves sluggish initially, though it establishes Gaby as a voracious reader growing up in an intellectual, literate family, with a physicist father who works with Einstein and a musically talented mother. Each chapter begins with a well-chosen quote from one of Gaby's beloved books, including The Call of the Wild
and The Sun Also Rises
. The pacing picks up as Gaby witnesses the rise of the Nazis; she realizes her family's sensible maid supports Hitler and overhears a baker's anti-Semitic remarks. Gaby begins a “Diary of Shame,” a mounting list of morally troubling moments, as when she salutes Hitler in school. Suspense builds as teachers lose jobs and as Gaby's sister becomes more seriously involved with her Nazi boyfriend. When book-burning threatens Gaby's precious books (and free thought in Germany), Gaby and her family must make critical, costly choices about their future. Gaby's questioning but assertive nature helps form a compelling, readable portrait of pre-WWII Germany. Ages 11–up.

February 1, 2010
Gr 6-10-Lasky's novel, set in Berlin in 1932, opens with an author's note that provides historical background. Gaby Schramm, 13, is an avid reader of world literature, and annoyed that her math teacher confiscates her books. Her unease grows when brown-shirted SA troops of Hitler's private army start occupying the city, signaling a distinct shift toward repression and anti-Semitism. Gaby's father, an astrophysics professor and colleague of Albert Einstein, is troubled that Einstein's work is labeled "Jewish physics," and Gaby's mother begins to fear for the safety of her Jewish friend, Baba. Although fascinated by her stylish literature teacher, Gaby withdraws from school after Fraulein Hofstadt presses her to join the Hitler Youth. Then her older sister becomes pregnant and plans to marry Karl, whom Gaby suspects of being a Nazi. Even when the family vacates to their summer house on a lake in Caputh, they cannot escape the darkening political climate, while back in Berlin, banned books are burned on a mammoth pyre. With a compelling plot, a strong sense of place, and vivid characters, the novel brings to life Hitler's inexorable rise to power and its impact on an intelligent German family forced to reconsider its loyalties."Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2010
Grades 6-12 *Starred Review* In 1932 Berlin, blond 13-year-old Gabriella looks like the Aryan purists ideal, but her strongly anti-Fascist family members are derisively called white Jews, and her astrophysicist father is friends with Einstein, whose theory of relativity is termed Jewish physics by the Nazis. From Gabriellas viewpoint, Lasky tells a gripping story about Hitlers early rise to power, including the Germans bitterness about their suffering after World War I. Though the filling in of background history sometimes feels slightly contrived, the story is strengthened by the complex, individual characters, such as the pro-Hitler maid who is tired of being poor; the beloved teacher, who wants Gabriella to be a Hitler Youth leader; and Gabriellas sister, who becomes pregnant while dating an ardent Nazi. Like Anne Frank, Gabriella loves American movie stars. She is also a big reader, and at the start of each chapter, there is a quote from authors such as Hemingway, Heine, London, Remarque, and Twain, whose books are among those publicly destroyed in the wild, historic book burning that is the climax of this story. From the opening quote, by HeineWhere they burn books, they will end by burning human beingsthe personal and the political history will haunt readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)