The Upstairs Room

I had no idea what to blog about yesterday. I thought about it all day but couldn't come up with a thing. Finally at six I took a quick trip to the used bookstore where I found "The Upstairs Room" by Johanna Reiss.  At midnight I was still reading.
Johanna Reiss is a Jewish Dutch born American writer, who decided to tell the her daughters about her time in Holland during World War Two.
Her father was a cattle dealer and her childhood up until age 8 was peaceful and typical for a little girl of the time. But then her father, who used to laugh and play with his little daughter, has becomes worried. Annie <Johanna's nickname> becomes aware that bad things are  happening in the world, and that those bad things could happen to her family.
Her father decides to leave for American, with his brother and their family. But Annie's mother has kidney disease and wont leave. Forced to wait, Annie sees the citizens of Holland have their rights taken from them a little at a time. Her family cannot shop except during certain times of the day, they can't use public pools or theatres, they can't leave the house without a yellow star and sadly for the Annie whose mother is in the hospital, they are not allowed to visit loved ones in the hospital.
When the last notice is made, Annie, on her own, goes to the town mayor. The mayor knows her father, and his daughter was once Annie's friend.  She asks the mayor to give her a permit to visit her mother in the hospital, and he writes one out. After that,  Annie's sister cooks her mother's meals, and Annie brings her mother her food, then takes the dirty dishes home each night. Meanwhile, Annie's father makes plans for his family.
Annie's father has gone into hiding. Then it is Annie and Sini's turn. They eventually wind up in a farmhouse in Holland, where for over two years they are more or less confined to small upstairs room.
This is a great book for a ten to twelve year old. Although it is told from a girl's point of view, I don't really think it is a "girl's book" anymore than the "Diary of Anne Frank" is.  This is a book for kids who enjoy history, or adventure. There are some moments of danger that Annie lived through, that one can't even think about. Like when, towards the end of the war, German soldiers used the farmhouse the two sisters are hiding in, as headquarters. Or how the farmer, a big boisterous man took Annie and her sister out into a wheat field so that they could get some sunshine into their bones. Annie got sun poisoning that day because visitors came to the house and the farmer couldn't go back to get them until it was very late. Despite the danger, the family found a doctor to make sure Annie was taken care of, and wouldn't suffer any ill effects.
On the day the Canadian army free the village, the farmer and his wife proudly brought the two sisters out to watch the Canadians march through the town, astounding the neighbors who never knew that the girls were there.
"The Upstairs Room" was a great book. Johanna Reiss wrote it with the intent of giving her own two little girls an idea of what it was like for her during those dangerous times, but wound up with a Newbery honor winner.
If your children want to about what life was like for the Jewish people during World War Two, this is a good book to begin. Give it a read yourself.  I think you'll enjoy it.