Book Portfolio #4

"What's happening?" Annemarie asked when she and Ellen were alone with Papa in the living room. "Somethings wrong. What is it?" Papa's face was troubled. "I wish I could protect you children from this knowledge." This is a quote from the historical fiction book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Published in 1989, this is a story of love and understanding, but also extreme hardships. It follows 10 year old Annemarie and her family during one of the harshest times in history, the holocaust. Even though the Germans have been in Denmark for a while Annemarie and her friend Ellen, who happens to be Jewish, hasn't seen them at all near their apartment building. But coming home from school one day the girls have a run in with 2 of them and get frightened. Then the store down the road from them, owned by a Jewish woman gets closed. Soon Ellen's family must leave so the Nazi's won't capture them, so she joins Annemarie's family. With the Germans coming into Denmark now the two girls and Ms. Johansen go to their Uncle Henrik's on the countryside. There they narrowly escape being discovered and Annemarie must be strong and find the bravery inside her. Throughout this book we see that growing up and finding yourself is a difficult journey.

It was already hard enough for Annemarie growing up and dealing with the death of her sister, but the holocaust amplified this struggle. She was already having trouble deciding if she was still a child or turning into a lady. But when the war started and she had to play different roles it made her identity more confusing. When she must at times play mother for Kirsti, her little sister, but then switch to grown up mode. Whenever her mother had to go and get food or make sure other people traveling with them were safe, Kirsti looked at her for protection. Annemarie would do things such as tell her fairy tales where the people lived happily ever after, which is exactly what Kirsti needed to keep her calm. But when she took her journey to deliver Uncle Henrik his package, if she wasn't scared enough she ran into the German police. So this trip into the woods seemed like she went in a child but came out more like a young lady. This journey was a huge step in her process of growing up and finding herself.

Every child, even adults, have a hard time finding themselves and growing up. Back in the holocaust many Jews were forced out of their homes and into the unknown. When the families got on the trains and to the camps they were forced apart. It didn't matter if there was a 3 or 4 year old separated from it's mother. A lot of these children were forced to grow up very quickly and realize they were all by themselves now. Sometimes the adults had a hard time identifying just where they were. Being taken away from their family could depress them severely and take them back feeling young and alone. The Nazi's would degrade them and make them feel like they meant nothing at all. Even the young men who were in the army had to grow up very quickly. Many of them were from small families and grew up in little side towns. When they joined the army and were forced to murder hundreds of people every single day. Just this fact alone would force you to go from being a young man of 17, 18 years old to being a full grown man. War forces young people to grow up extremely quickly, the holocaust gave these young men a giant push into adulthood.

Everyone has trouble with their identity at some point in life and has to face the difficulties of growing up. Annemarie's experience with the war and her family's changes caused her to realize that she was growing up and was much stronger than she thought. Back in the Holocaust many women, children and men were faced with difficult shifts in life and had to grow into their new environment. Lois Lowry did a in depth job of showing the readers that even if you aren't sure who you are, if you just trust in yourself you'll be able to find what your looking for. If you go through life unsure of who you really are or what you want you'll never be able to fully live your life.