When the World Was Ours

Starred review from April 1, 2021

Gr 4-7-Inspired by her family's history, Kessler tells a story of the Holocaust from the point of view of three children: Elsa, Leo, and Max, best friends who live in Vienna. The story opens in 1936 when the children are nine, and as they age, their thoughts and actions develop in sophistication. At the start of Hitler's rise to power, Max's father forbids him to play with his only two friends because they are Jewish. The lives of all three are torn apart when Elsa's family moves to Czechoslovakia seeking a safe haven, Leo's father is imprisoned and his family tries to get out of Austria to a safer country, and Max's father, an SS officer, moves his family to Munich while he works at Dachau. Kessler does not try to paint a pretty picture when Elsa ends up at a death camp and Max becomes a zealous member of the Hitler youth; the once-friends have become teens caught in a situation where suffering and humiliation are daily occurrences. This is a well-researched story that portrays life as it was during the horrors of World War II in Europe. VERDICT A must-have addition to any middle school collection that could easily become a classic like Lois Lowry's Number the Stars.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Acad., Avondale, LA

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April 1, 2021
Three Austrian children experience the ravages of World War II. On Leo Grunberg's ninth birthday in 1936, he and his two best friends, Elsa and Max, celebrate by riding Vienna's Ferris wheel. Leo collides with English tourists, leading to a friendly connection that later proves lifesaving when the couple sponsor visas for Leo and his mother. Mr. Grunberg is tragically sent first to Dachau and then Auschwitz. Elsa, whose family, like Leo's, is Jewish, moves to Prague to escape growing dangers in Austria, but their new lives are shortly upended: Elsa is unable to escape via the Kindertransport, and she is sent with her family to Auschwitz. Christian Max's father joins the Nazi Party and forbids him to spend time with Jewish friends; initially resentful, Max ultimately joins the Hitler Youth. His father is assigned to work at Dachau and later Auschwitz--where Max becomes a guard--and Max crosses paths with Mr. Grunberg in both locations, each time shunning the man who treated him so kindly. He also meets Elsa in an unforgettably dramatic scene in which he must confront his own humanity. These coincidences may strain credulity, but this sometimes-horrific, sometimes-sentimental page-turner exposes readers to the entire arc of the Holocaust. A note explains how the author's father's family escaped the Nazis after meeting a British couple in a similar manner to that portrayed in the book. Readers viscerally experience the Holocaust in this gripping novel. (resources, further reading) (Historical fiction. 12-18)

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May 15, 2021
Grades 6-8 *Starred Review* Best friends Leo, Elsa, and Max are celebrating Leo's ninth birthday in 1936 Vienna. Leo's papa takes their picture, and as their lives spin apart during the next five years, all three depend on their copy of that picture as a touchstone. Elsa, who is Jewish, loses her home, is forced into a ghetto, and is eventually transported to Auschwitz. Leo is Jewish, too, and after his papa is arrested, Leo and his mother try to escape Austria. Max, who was a bullied outcast before he met Elsa and Leo, is the son of a high-ranking Nazi, and he embraces the brainwashing camaraderie of the Hitler Youth movement. The heartbreaking narrative follows the characters across time and space as they age and struggle down their separate paths. And though they still remain connected to one another, a reunion now may bring only grief. Based on the real-life experiences of author Kessler's relatives, the narrative is brutally honest and totally believable. Readers share the inner thoughts of each character as they adapt to their unimaginable circumstances. Despite the characters' initial grade-school ages, this emotional novel is best suited for older middle-grade readers.

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