From Publishers Weekly
Like the acclaimed Number the Stars , this well-plotted novel features a young Gentile hero battling the Germans in their war against the Jews. As it opens, Jo is guarding the sheep when his dog alerts him to a bear; Jo warns the villagers in his small French town and they kill the hapless beast. The theme here prefigures the more tragic hunt for human prey, while the bear chase itself brings Jo into contact with Benjamin, the reclusive Widow Horcada's Jewish son-in-law, who is hiding in her mountain home. Separated from Anya, his daughter, Benjamin hides other Jewish children and leads them to safety in nearby Spain. Jo is soon enlisted, bringing supplies to the widow's house. Then the Germans encamp in Jo's village, observing everyone and sealing the Spanish border. Jo's concern for the Jews is measured against his reluctant awareness that the German occupiers are not uniformly evil--in fact, the villagers' relations with the Germans form the most distinctive element of the story. Although some key elements are historically improbable (chiefly, a German officer's partial rejection of Nazi principles), the adventure of the Jews' escape into Spain is both gripping and temperate. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-- In a village in southern France, only a few miles from Spain, Jo discovers that the Widow Horcada is sheltering Benjamin, her Jewish son-in-law, who is helping to smuggle Jewish children over the border. He is also waiting for his own child, Anya, from whom he was separated. When a garrison of German soldiers is sent to occupy the village in order to stop the flow of refugees into Spain, Benjamin needs the cooperation of the entire village to save the children. What Jo and the others learn, though, is that the Germans are human and that there are more similarities than differences among them. Readers do not see battles, but will witness their effects when Jo's father returns a sick and bitter man; they do not see the horrors of the death camps--it is enough to know that those who are taken away will not be seen again. Everything is seen through the eyes of one young, compassionate boy. There are no villains and no larger-than-life heroes, just human beings following what conscience or duty tells them is right. In its understated style and gentle telling of a harsh lesson, the story is reminiscent of Lois Lowry's Number the Stars (Houghton, 1989). --Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, TX
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
