Miriam, a young Jewish girl, is forced to leave her parents and hide with strangers in the country during the German occupation of Holland.

I would use this book in second or third grade in an English lesson--I definitely wouldn't focus on the Holocaust part of the story with younger students. In middle school, around seventh grade, that is when I would use this book in social studies to talk about the Holocaust and the elements in this story that relate to what actually happened during those times. ( )

I liked this book for many different reasons. I liked the characters in the book. The young girl was very naïve of what was happening during this time period. The parents that took in young girl are very kind and welcoming. For example, the author writes, “Nello’s mother hears me and comes back. She smooths my curls back from face.” Nello’s mother takes care of the young girl and she was portrayed as nice and friendly. The book also pushed readers to think about tough issues and broadened perspectives. This book focused on the time period of the Holocaust and what many people went through. For example, the young girl had to leave her family and live with another family who was not Jewish. This Historical Fiction book showed meaningful themes of what children went through during this time period. The setting was accurate for this time. This story also helped children understand this specific time period and can be made into a lesson to teach children about the Holocaust and the effects it had on the world. The big idea or message of this book was to teach children about the Holocaust through a fictional character and story.

This story does touch on the concept of being in hiding, as the protagonist is a Jewish "hidden child", separated from her family to live with gentiles for safety. It never does tell you what happens to her parents or if they ever reunite, and the symbolism is a bit confused.

The child refuses to go into the lily cupboard to hide without her rabbit, who she insists must stay with her. She compares her heroic act, almost completely foiling the plan for the sake of the rabbit, to her parents' heroic act of keeping HER safe with this family. But, her parents DIDN'T keep her with them, so the symbolism is all skewed.

The actual act of being hidden in the cupboard with the Nazis visiting the family was so brief and under-characterized that I ended up reading this story without emotion.

I don't really recommend this for a holocaust study, unless the audience is like 6 years old. ( )

During World War II, a young jewish girl names Miriam is sent to stay with part of her farm family. As a jewish girl, they were forced to have to hid her in a cupboard when the Nazis come looking. This was a difficult time for her family because they found her and took her away to the concentration camps.