Escape from Warsaw (School & Library Binding)

This is the story of a Polish family and, of what happened to them during the World War II and immediately afterward. The Balicki family lived in a suburb of Warsaw. Joseph, the father, and Margrit, the mother, had three children. Ruth, Edik, and Bronia. The children and the father go through some life-time experiences. It all started when Margrit Balicki was taken away to do labor work somewhere in Russia. When she was taken away it only left the father and the children. Unfortunately, Joseph was taken away to, to Zakyna, a prison camp in Germany. Joseph managed to escape after many tries. He remembered talking to his family about if they ever got separated, they would meet in Switzerland. So, that's where he was headed. Back in Warsaw, the children got themselves into many troubling situations, but were able to get out of them. Eventually, they to remembered the meeting place and started out to Switzerland. On their way, they met a very clever boy, Jan, who they thought would help them out on their journey. During their journey, they met many people who felt for them and helped them out as much as they could. Finally, after months of traveling on foot, they make it to Switzerland very ill and tired. The day before they met, there was a terrible storm which caused much damage to everything in its path. The children wake up in a hospital dazed yet, excited to see their father standing over them. They haven't heard anything about their mother and are very disappointed. But they are willing to put all their troubles behind them and start a wonderful life together in their new home, Appenzell, Switzerland.

One of the main reasons why I like the book was because it was based on a true story, which made it interesting. It was a fun book to read even though there were many tragedies for this family. I liked the way the author tells the story, making each situation a gripping experience. The author wrote in a way that made me feel like I was there with them the whole journey. I also liked the book because it had humorous moments. For example, when they were caught sleeping in a farmer's barn, they told the farmer that they haven't done any harm. The farmer responded back, "I suppose you call this a birthday present. One - two - three of you. Is that the lot, or have we another batch lurking somewhere?"

The things I disliked about the book was that it was often hard to follow. Some of the sentence structures were so confusing that I had to read it over two or three times to understand it better. The author used words I didn't know, so I had to use context clues to figure out the meanings of those words or look them up in the dictionary. For example, "He begrudgingly lifted the tarpaulin from his shoulders and sat back to the crates, facing the dark mountain."

My favorite part of the book was when Ruth, Edik, Jan and Bronia went canoeing down the Danube River and Elbe River. It reminded me of when I went canoeing in Redondo Beach. I could relate to how tired they were when they were canoeing all night long to go to Switzerland. This section of the book was very exciting for me to read because it was the most adventurous and thrilling part of their journey. They went through rough rapid waters, they had to be very quiet passing by a village so they wouldn't be seen, and when they were spotted by an officer, they had to quickly get away.