Chuyển đến nội dung chính

We Had To Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport by Deborah Hopkinson

With the same attention to detail and straightforward writing style readers have come to appreciate from her, Deborah Hopkinson looks at how the rescue operation of Jewish children from Nazi occupied Europe, known as the Kindertransport, was able to saved approximately 10,000 young people. In the first half of this fascinating history ,  Hopkinson details Hitler's rise to power and ties its impact into the lives of a number of Jewish families. Most people don't realize just how widespread anti-Semitic feelings were in 1930s Germany, but as Hitler became more popular, as his followers increased, many Jews who had believed themselves to be as German as their non-Jewish neighbors began to experience a definite change. For example, Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps for no reason, prohibitions were enacted so that Jews in civil service lost their jobs, Jews couldn't go to the movies or visit a park, Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend German s...
Đăng nhận xét

The Secret

The Secret

Blog Tour: Mari's Hope by Sandy Brehl




Mari’s Hope is the third book in the Odin’s Promise Trilogy. In the first book, In Odin’s Promise, Mari is only 11 when the Nazi’s invade her beloved Norway on April 9, 1941. Life as she knew changes overnight, and slowly, she learns that the Norwegians in her village and all over Norway are not taking the invasion and occupying German solders lying down - an active and successful resistance springs up almost immediately and by the end of the novel, after suffering a heartbreaking loss, Mari herself is part of the resistance.






Book Two, Bjorn’s Gift, begins in August 1941. When German officers move into their home, Mari's family move in with her grandmother in order to continue their resistance work, even risking sheltering refugees in the attic. Bjorn is away, now a full time part of the resistance, and Mari decides to secretly record everything that is happening at home for him to read after the war. Mari is also disappointed when she learns her old friend Leif and his family seem to have become collaborators.  






Mari’s Hope begins in February 1943. Mari is now 14 years old and while still part of the resistance, she has also become a highly regarded assistant to Dr. Olsen, often visiting the sick in their  isolated homes spread out on the mountainside around her village of Ytre Arna. Food, fuel to heat homes, and a shortage of medical supplies have caused major problems for the folks who refuse to help the Nazis, including Mari’s family. 






Mari is also able to travel to Bergen, to visit her sister Lise, a nurse, and to take her examinations to become a health aide. There, she meets Hanna, a smart, lively, not easily scared 8 year-old, and her friend Rolf, 14. But on her second meeting with Rolf, Mari and Hanna find him suffering serious injuries after some Norwegian Hitler Youth beat him up, and Mari ends up performing resistance tasks for him in Bergen before returning home. 






Mari soon finds herself traveling again to Bergen. This time it is to try to get some needed medical supplies, using a clever ruse concocted by Dr. Olsen and a friend of his in Bergen. She goes a third time to Bergen to try to help out after a harbor explosion destroys much of the area in April 1944, and  to find Hanna and her older sister Julia, fearing that they may have perished in the intense fires.






At home, Mari is still having difficulties with her old friend Leif and his collaboration with the Nazis, and of course, there is still the despised German officer Klein, whom Mari had nicknamed Goatman in Odin’s Promise, an alcoholic who is known for his excellent ability to trace illegal radios, one of which is owned by Mari's family.






Brehl’s realistic depiction of life under the Nazis, of the way spontaneous resistance groups formed, of the fears, the deprivations, and even some of the happy times is probably the strongest appeal the Odin’s Promise Trilogy has for me. Authenticity in historical fiction is important, and I felt that Brehl had really nailed it, and yes, the terrible explosion in Bergen really did happen. 






One of the other things I really liked about each book in the Trilogy is the consistent message that each of us can make a difference under difficult circumstances if we work together, and Mari’s family is the perfect example of that idea. Resistance is a theme that really means a lot to me and I found the large and small acts in Odin’s Promise, Bjorn’s Gift, and Mari’s Hope gave me some hope that something as odious as the Third Reich can be overcome. 






Mari’s Hope takes the reader up to and just beyond the end of the war, and while there is some heartbreak in this novel, there are some nice surprises as well. And Brehl ties things up with a satisfying conclusion so there are no hanging ends. Much to her credit for creating such appealing, realistic characters, I did find that I was somewhat sad to close the book at the end of Mari’s Hope after traveling along on her wartime journey these past few years. 






The Odin’s Promise Trilogy are three books that will appeal to anyone interested in WWII, the Norwegian resistance, and themes about family, friends, and life on the home-front in a war.






This book is recommended for readers age 9+


This book was an ARC received from the author








About the Author: Sandy Brehl is the award-winning author of a Norway historical trilogy for ages ten-thru-adult. (ODIN’S PROMISE, BJORN’S GIFT, and MARI’S HOPE) She also writes a blog about picture books (http://Unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com) and contributes to a blog about historical works from middle grade readers (https://thestoriedpast.org). She’s an active member and volunteer with SCBWI-Wisconsin. Sandy writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young readers of any age. A retired educator living in the Milwaukee area, Sandy offers programs for schools, libraries, and adult groups. 






Learn more at www.SandyBrehl.com 


                   Follow on Twitter @SandyBrehl and @PBWorkshop

                                     Facebook: Sandy Brehl Author






Be sure to visit the other stops on the Mari’s Hope Blog Tour:


9/5 Rochelle Melander- Author interview 


9/6/Rosemary Kiladitis - Mom Read It


9/7 Trisha Perry - Mindjacked


9/11 Jenni Enzor - Jenni Enzor


9/12 Stephanie Lowden - Golowd


9/18 Suzanne Warr - Tales from the Raven


9/20 Alex Baugh https://thechildrenswar.blogspot.com

Nhận xét

Đăng nhận xét

Bài đăng phổ biến từ blog này

Book Blitz: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox (Excerpt)

Title: The Witch of Willow Hall Author: Hester Fox Publisher: Graydon House Publication Date: October 2, 2018 Synopsis: Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it. New Oldbury, 1821 In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia, and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline. All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end… About the Author: Hester comes to writing from a background in museum work and historical archaeology. She loves the Gothic, the lurid, the dark...so long as the ending is a happy one....
Đăng nhận xét
Đọc thêm

Book Blitz: Wings of Flesh and Bones by Cathrina Constantine (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Title: Wings of Flesh and Bones Author: Cathrina Constantine Publication Date: April 13, 2018 Synopsis: An Angel. A Witch. A Demon. And A Choice. Creatures from outer realms suck, as any gatekeeper worth their salt will tell you. Welcome to Rogan’s life, an orphaned seventeen-year-old who lives and trains with other misfits under her uncle’s roof, keeping Earth safe from non-human realm jumpers. Rogan’s biggest issue concerns her uncle’s short leash with her freedom—that is of course, until she’s taken by a notorious witch, and her life begins to unravel. Soon, the supernatural beauty discovers there’s a reason her uncle kept such a tight lock on her whereabouts, and that she has more than angel blood running through her veins.  Eighteen-year-old Max is an angel, and Rogan’s mentor and guardian. He’s well aware of her tenacious inability to obey orders, though he also knows she’s a fierce fighter. When he’s involved in a scheme that ultimately gets Rogan kidnapped, he must battl...
Đăng nhận xét
Đọc thêm

Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story by Joseph Bruchac, pictures by Liz Amini-Holmes

In 1929, when he was only 8 years old, Betoli was removed from his Native family and sent to the Navajo boarding school at Fort Defiance, Arizona, the very same place where Navajos had been held captive in the 1860s by the United States Army, after a forced long walk of 300 miles. At Fort Defiance, Betoli had his long, black hair cut short, was given the English name Chester, and forbidden to speak his native Navajo language. If children were caught speaking Navajo, their mouth would be washed out with yellow soap by a matron. Every year, Chester returned to his family during the summer and kept his native ways. Then, in 1941, when he was in tenth grade, the United States entered World War II. In 1942, the US Marine Corps visited the Reservation. They wanted men who could speak English and Navajo to develop a code for sending messages that the Japanese codebreakers couldn't figure out. Initially, only 29 Navajos, including Chester, were chosen out of the many who volunteered, formi...
Đăng nhận xét
Đọc thêm

Free $100

Free $100