The Night War
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Author)
From the two-time Newbery Honor-winning author of The War That Saved My Life and Fighting Words comes a middle grade novel set at the border between freedom and fear in World War II France, at the Chateau de Chenonceau, where a Jewish girl who has lost everything but her life must decide whether to risk even that to bring others to freedom.
"We don't choose how we feel, but we choose how we act."
It's 1942. German Nazis occupy much of France. And twelve-year-old Miriam, who is Jewish, is not safe. With help and quick thinking, Miri is saved from the roundup that takes her entire Jewish neighborhood. She escapes Paris, landing in a small French village, where the spires of the famous Chateau de Chenonceau rise high into the sky, its bridge across the River Cher like a promise, a fairy tale. But Miri's life is no fairy tale.
Her parents are gone--maybe alive, maybe not. Taken in at the boarding school near the chateau, pretending to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture, Miri is called upon one night to undertake a deadly task, one that spans the castle grounds, its bridge, and the very border to freedom. Here is her chance to escape--hopefully to find her parents. But will she take it? One thing is certain: The person Miri meets that night will save her life. And the person Miri becomes that night could save the lives of many more.
In her return to the era of The War that Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley brings a new and different story, one with a mystical twist, that explores a little-known slice of World War II history, a highly unusual friendship, and the power of choosing courage even when--especially when--there are no good choices to be had.
"This poignant story moves quickly . . . A gripping, humane tale." --Kirkus (starred review)
"A deeply sympathetic character facing increasingly dangerous and suspenseful circumstances." --PW
"Compelling [with] a hint of magic [that] becomes as satisfying as the whole of this fine novel." --Booklist
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Publishers Weekly
This well-paced novel by Bradley (Fighting Words), set in 1942 Nazi-occupied France, poses thoughtful questions about religious divides and parallels through the experiences of 12-year-old Miriam Schreiber, a German Jew who fled Berlin for Paris with her parents after Kristallnacht. When all the Jews in her neighborhood are rounded up, Miri is separated from her parents and escapes with two-year-old neighbor Nora. Saved by a Catholic nun, the children are sent to Chenonceaux, where the Chateau de Chenonceau straddles the border of occupied France and French-controlled Vichy. Nora is given to a Catholic family, while Miri--pretending to be Christian and going by Marie--is sent to a convent school, where she discovers that two nuns are secretly helping to smuggle Jews across the border. Suffering from fear and anxiety and plagued by guilt for choices she believes she failed to make to save her mother and Nora's father, Miri--aided by a mysterious, imperious elderly woman--takes on risky responsibilities. Miri's highly credible emotions and actions make for a deeply sympathetic character facing increasingly dangerous and suspenseful circumstances; secondary characters are satisfyingly complex. All characters present as white; several are Jewish. A historical note concludes. Ages 9-12. (Apr.)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV013050 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Orphans & Foster Homes
JUV016040 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | Europe
France
Friendship
Historical fiction
Missing persons
German occupation, 1940-1945
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Jewish children in the Holocaust
Jewish girls
Novels
