Annemarie is sent on an important mission to deliver an important package to her Uncle Henrick. There they will be safe because Sweden chose not to enter the war. Ellen and her family, the Rosens, must leave Denmark to go to Sweden where will be safe from the Nazi soldiers. Ellen is Annemarie's best friend and is Jewish. The Nazi soldiers invaded and took control of Denmark and its Danes. This book is about a young girl named Annemarie, her family and their role in helping Jewish families escape the Germans during World War II. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. It was very moving, suspenseful, and sad. Johansen, Uncle Henrik, and Peter Neilsen and the trouble they endured to help their friends. The rest of the story is about the tremendous courage of Annemarie, Mrs. Johansen took her two daughters and Ellen to visit Uncle Henrik. Ellen went to live with the Johansens and pretended to be a part of the Johansen family. One day, the Jewish families received word that the Germans were going to relocate all the Jews in Denmark. There were food shortages and they were required to darken their windows every evening. Nazi soldiers were on every street corner. Living in Denmark during that time was very difficult. The story tells about the life of two very close friends, Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen, and their families. During that time Denmark was under Nazi occupation. This story is set in Denmark in 1943, during World War II. Be warned: There is no perfectly happy ending at the end of this story (the reader is not absolutely certain that the Rosenbergs have escaped and are coming back) but it should satisfy most children. In this way, Lowry has created a book about the Holocaust that is appropriate for juvenile readers. I was impressed with the fact that the threat presented by the Germans in this book was made real without relying on gory details. Annemarie must use her head to save her friend from the concentration camps while endangering herself. Though she is not directly threatened by the actions of the Nazis that have invaded her peaceful country, her best friend Ellen Rosen is. Everything occurs in Denmark, and we see the story unfold through the eyes of young Annemarie Johansen. This story departs from the usual World War Two fiction genre by placing the story in a unique setting with a different perspective. Though I was a child when this book was first published, somehow I managed to avoid reading any Lois Lowry until 2003 (much to the shock of my friends).
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