Resistance

Sent away from her Krakow home in April 1941, 16-year-old Chaya Lindner becomes an activist in the Jewish armed resistance movement Akiva by October 1942. With features and coloring that belie her ethnicity, as well as fluency in Polish and a smattering of German, she can pass as the Polish Catholic Helena Nowak, which makes her the perfect courier. Confident Chaya is dismayed when she is paired to work with seemingly timid Esther, who possesses "every possible look and mannerism to radiate her Jewishness" and who is to blame for a failed Akiva mission. As they travel from a ghetto in Krakow to one in Lodz, the young women witness horrific events and undergo harrowing experiences before arriving at their ultimate destination: the Warsaw Ghetto, where the action culminates in the historic uprising of April 1943. Suspense mounts continually as Chaya survives her ordeals, gaining strength and faith in her mission. The courage and self-sacrifice of many characters is inspiring, but the book is unapologetically grim and violent, like the events it so persuasively depicts, and may not suit readers at the younger end of its stated range. Ages 8-12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Gr 5-8—The author of A Night Divided opens a doorway in time to Nazi-occupied World War II Poland, quickly immersing readers in the perilous life of 16-year-old Chaya, a courier for the Jewish resistance. Her missions slipping in and out of Jewish ghettos and raiding Nazi storehouses are hazardous enough without the inexperience of new recruit Esther adding to the risk and testing Chaya's patience. The girls become uneasy partners on new missions when the two are the last surviving members of their resistance cell. Readers will empathize with Chaya, who burns with anger against their occupiers and questions those who won't fight back. But it's complex Esther who will linger in kids' minds. Nielsen uses this character to great effect, helping Chaya understand that violence is just one way to resist and that "a righteous resistance was victory in itself, no matter the outcome." Tension escalates as details of Esther's backstory are withheld until pivotal moments. The edge-of-your-seat climax places readers amidst the gritty, horrifying street battles of the Warsaw Ghetto and pays tribute to those who sacrificed themselves so others would live. A fascinating afterword profiles real-life resistance fighters the fictional teens encounter throughout. VERDICT Historical fiction at its finest, this informs, enlightens, and engages young readers. A first purchase.—Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY