To Hope and Back

January 1, 2012

Gr 4-6- This book sheds light on a dramatic story that is likely to be unfamiliar to most students. In 1939, the St. Louis transported Jewish refugees to Cuba. Their final destination was America, but they never made it there. Denied entrance to both countries, the ship was forced to return to Germany. From there, some passengers managed to find refuge elsewhere in Europe and successfully reach America, while others perished in concentration camps. Kacer's text is well written and well researched, and the black-and-white photography from the United States Holocaust Museum offers windows into everyday lives on the ship. Two child survivors share their experiences, telling their stories of sailing and longing for safe harbor. Playful Sol is the more likable, although it isn't completely Lisa's fault that she's less appealing: she has terrible seasickness throughout the voyage. At times, her thoughts and insights do not seem childlike. Although she is supposedly mourning her father, who committed suicide, she rarely thinks about his death. These first-person narratives are interspersed with a third-person account of the captain's futile struggle to gain freedom for his passengers. It may be jarring for readers to switch between the children's accounts and the journalistic style, especially at first, and some may be tempted to skip the captain's sections altogether. It is difficult to enter Sol's and Lisa's internal worlds because the journalistic sections interrupt the flow. In spite of this, the historical significance of the St. Louis and the compelling photos make this a worthwhile supplementary purchase.-Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard H.S. Early College, Queens, NY

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