Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

 

This historical fiction book is based on the time during the Holocaust.  Number the Stars is about Annemarie Johansen, a 10-year-old girl who lives in Denmark.  Annemarie and her family risk their lives to help Ellen Rosen, Annemarie’s best friend.  They pretend that Ellen is Annemarie’s older sister, who died earlier in the war.  The book continues to tell of the struggles that the family faces and what it takes for them to get to the end of the war. 

I would use this book when we were doing a World War II unit and talking about the Holocaust.  I might use this book as a read aloud and read a chapter a day to the class.  I would want them to listen to this book and imagine their lives as Annemarie or Ellen.  I would want them to really see how the Holocaust affected people’s lives.