The Safest Lie

September 28, 2015
Frail Anna Bauman, a Jewish girl starving to death in the Warsaw ghetto, must take on a new identity and abandon her parents to survive WWII. As Anna Korwolska, she is smuggled to a Catholic orphanage and eventually adopted by a Polish family with their own secrets, before political changes threaten to uproot her again. Told from Anna's perspective, this harrowing tale of secrets and survival has a childlike cadence, with poignantly simple observations amid life-altering decisions. At just nine years old, Anna struggles to comprehend the exhausting ramifications of pretending to be someone she is not; her plight takes on an added aspect of self-awareness with the discovery of two homeless Jewish children in hiding, forcing her to choose between forsaking her mother's orders and helping those so much like herself. Cerrito (The End of the Line) delivers a compassionate introduction to the atrocities of the Holocaust that pays homage to some of the real heroes, particularly social worker Irena Sendler, who risked their lives to save the young. Ages 8â12. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates.

June 1, 2015
Anna Bauman, 9 years old and Jewish, escapes certain death in Nazi-occupied Poland with the help of many who keep her hidden with a false Catholic identity. When Mama tells Anna she must leave the Warsaw ghetto with a trusted guide and new name, Anna Karwolska, the girl is confused, frightened, and unsure she can keep her unfamiliar gentile life authentic. Taken to a Catholic orphanage, Anna begins to learn a new religious structure while she secretly remembers her Jewish background. After a year she is again uprooted and taken to a foster family that lovingly welcomes her as an orphan of the war. Basing her story on the admirable work of Irena Sendler, the Polish social worker who provided underground opportunities for 2,500 Jewish children, Cerrito effectively evokes the fears, struggles, and sheer terror these children faced through her protagonist's first-person account, which allows readers into her private thoughts. Anna's three years in hiding encompass much of what these saved children experienced, though many were not always treated with kindness. In a candid concluding portrayal of the psychological cruelty these children faced, Anna learns of her real family's death when she is taken from her foster home to a Jewish agency. Though alive, she is emotionally lost, and readers are left to ponder what the future might hold for this brave girl. Balancing honesty and age-appropriateness, Cerrito crafts an authentic, moving portrait. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

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August 1, 2015

Gr 3-6-Nine-year-old Anna Bauman has lived in the Warsaw ghetto since World War II began. Her life is torn apart when she is smuggled away and made to pose as a Catholic orphan named Anna Karwolska. She lives in an orphanage until she is taken in by a kindhearted family who help to print a secret newspaper. Throughout all these changes, Anna is troubled by the loss of her Jewish identity. But she realizes that in order to survive, she must be "the best liar in the world." An author's note explains that Anna's tale is based on the true stories of the children smuggled out of Warsaw by Polish spy Irena Sendler, who is renamed Jolanta in this book. The pace is quick enough to cover three years, but there's still room for plenty of dialogue and memorable metaphors. When Anna learns her new name, she says, "The words are heavy and far away, like a stone thrown so far out into the lake that it is impossible to hear the splash." Anna's present-tense narrative voice is vivid, and readers will connect with her from the start. From the moment she recommends her friends for scarce vaccinations to her inquiries about a baby she helped rescue years ago, she demonstrates her loyalty. Fans of Lois Lowry's Number the Stars (HMH, 1989) or Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War that Saved My Life (Dial, 2015) are likely to enjoy reading this book next. VERDICT A suspenseful and informative choice for historical fiction fans.-Magdalena Teske, Naperville Public Library, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2015
Grades 4-7 Cerrito's second novel is inspired by the true story of Irena Sendler, who rescued children from the Warsaw ghetto during WWII. Being given a new nameAnna Karwolskaisn't the biggest change nine-year-old Anna Bauman has had to endure after living crammed into a ghetto with other Jewish families, attending a secret school, and surviving off little food. She has just memorized her new identity when she is whisked away by Sendler and sent to an orphanage before being placed with a family in the countryside, where she remains until the war's end. Cerrito succeeds particularly in distilling the WWII experience from a child's point of view: the horrors are slightly muted because they are all Anna's ever known. Though Cerrito's prose sometimes feels uneven, the short chapters keep the pace moving along nicely. Readers yearning for Anna's postwar reunion with her family will be faced with the same harsh reality as Anna: precious little of her family survives. Back matter provides further context for the real story of Sendler, whose bravery in the face of danger is inspiring.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)