The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

To purchase this novel with my Amazon link, click here ->https://amzn.to/47QcoLK

Description:

One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make...

It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemysl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio -- a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish.

But everything changes when the German army invades Przemysl. The Diamants are forced into the ghetto, and Stefania is alone in an occupied city, the only one left to care for Helena, her six-year-old sister. And then comes the knock at the door. Izio's brother, Max, has jumped from the train headed to a death camp. Stefania and Helena make the extraordinary decision to hide Max and, eventually, twelve more Jews. Then they must wait, every day, for the next knock at the door, the one that will mean death. When the knock finally comes, it is two Nazi officers requisitioning Stefania's house for the German army.

With two Nazis below, thirteen hidden Jews above, and a little sister by her side, Stefania has one more excruciating choice to make.

This remarkable tale of courage and humanity, based on a true story, is now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick!

Age Recommendation: 15+ or 9th grade and up

General Content:

Language: 2/10- Little to no profanities; antisemitism and derogatory terms towards Jewish people.

Alcohol & Drugs: 2/10- Some mentions of officers being drunk, drinking vodka, and cigarette use.

Violence & Gore: 6/10- A large amount of violence and some gore. It is a WWII novel about the holocaust and does not shy away from the monstrosities of the time. However, the author is aware of the audience and is not incredibly descriptive or gory in her writing.

Sexual Content: 1/10- Very little sexual content. Some kissing and flirting.

Parent Guide:

Tropes: Courage, WWII/ nazi Germany, morality, and enduring hardship.

Ch. 2

-Stefania, aka Fusia, the main character, witnesses a fight in the street. The two boys are fighting because one called the other a “dirty Jew”.

-Mr. Diamant, the father of the family Fusia is working for, is told to have smoked “cigarette after cigarette”.

Ch. 3

-German bombs fall from the sky, tanks clutter the street, and gunshots ring out. Fusia’s sister’s apartment building is on fire, they’re able to escape, and Fusia runs to the Diamants house (as they’ve gotten very close). While she runs, she notices the streets are filled with panic. “People were crying out for help. From pain. Not just one, but dozens of them, from all directions”.

-Mrs. Diamants’ 4 sons kiss their mom and then flee from the Germans, determined never to become German soldiers as they are all Jewish.

-Rumors on the street say that German soldiers took 100 Jews captive while the bombs fell. Forced them to run and beat them if they fell. “And when no one could run anymore, they’d been taken to the cemetery and shot”.

-Izio Diamant, one of the Diamant sons, secretly proposes marriage to Fusia, they kiss.

Ch. 4

-Bombs fall, and gunshots ring out again. One of the boys goes up from the shelter to check, he sees no more wounded, no vehicles, but dead Russian soldiers “in the shop windows…propped up with broomsticks, their faces painted with swastikas”.

-After traveling, the Diamant parents, a couple of other elderly people, children, and Fusia are exhausted and thirsty. They find a barn with a well and go for a drink when a women shoo’s them away, calling them “swine Jews”.

-Three bodies lay in the dirt in the middle of a town, Fusia’s unsure if they’re dead or unconscious.

-Two German soldiers yell that the Jews started the war and that the war won’t end until “every last Jew is dead”.

Ch. 6

-On her way out of the ghetto, Fusia sees a girl beaten to death with the end of a rifle; the SS officer smiles as he does it and leaves her body in the street.

Ch. 7

-Fusia finds out that Izio died at the hands of the German soldiers. She walks home defeated, trying to find her family. She finds only her 6-year-old sister, alone and bruised.

-Fusia finds out her sister was being beaten by the husband of the family her mother left her at before being taken captive by the Germans.

Ch. 8

-Fusia sees a line of people, including children and the Diamant parents, being loaded into a train. She learns the train is headed for the death camp.

Ch. 9

-Two SS men beat a Jewish child with a club.

-A family harbored a Jewish family, the SS officers find them, bring them out to the streets, and shoot them all one by one.

Ch. 10

-Max shows up at the apartment badly injured. He said he jumped from a moving train.

-Max (in little detail) tells Fusia of the horrible things the SS officers did to the Jews in the ghettos.

-Max tells Fusia the train was so full he couldn’t move or breathe, and that a man hung himself with his own belt.

Ch. 12

-A police officer catches Max and threatens to take him to the Gestapo. Out of fear, Max punches him and begins to choke him. He realizes what he’s doing and quickly runs away.

Ch. 15

-2 men hang from the fence for leaving the ghetto to buy food.

Ch. 18

-An officer tricked Fusia into coming over for dinner by saying he “knew a secret about her”. After dinner and wine, he tells her he’ll tell her the secret for a kiss. He kisses her a couple of times, “his weight pins her to the sofa”. “‘What about…our business,’ I manage while his lips are on my neck. ‘What secret…do you know?’”

-Two characters quickly kiss at work.

Ch. 20 Profanities:1

-Talking about the SS officers in the ghettos, one of Fusia’s coworkers says, “that’s the kind of b****rds they are”.

-A couple of coworkers show up at Fusia’s house unannounced. They bring whiskey. They explore her house without asking and slip into one of the bedrooms to dance. Some dance while a couple sits on the bed, kissing.

Ch. 21

-Mentions of a man living next door, often being drunk.

-Mentions of some characters smoking cigarettes

-Two German soldiers grab Fusia and her coworker while they walk home. Fusia realizes they are trying to drag them to the apartments where some German soldiers stay. Afraid of what may happen, Fusia makes a plan for both girls to hit each of the soldiers in the face and run as quickly as they can.

-On the way to work, Fusia sees a man hanged. SS officers nearby mentioned he was hanged for hiding Jews.

Ch. 22

-Black smoke fills the sky from near the ghettos, two days after round after round of gunfire. Fusia realizes they’ve shot nearly everyone in the ghettos and are now burning the bodies.

Ch. 23

-Fusia buys vodka and cigarettes as part of her Christmas surprise.

Ch. 24

-2 German soldiers arrive to meet with the nurses who have moved into Fusia’s home on German command. They greet each other, then “they all go to the back bedroom. They don’t seem concerned that there’s a child in the house”.

Ch. 25

-Fusia’s coworker tells her a story about a family hiding 4 Jews in the attic. SS officers found out and shot all 4 Jews, the couple hiding them, and their children. The neighbor felt guilty for reporting them and hung himself.

Ch. 26

-Lying in the ditch below Fusia’s job is a woman lying dead, shot for hiding Jews.

-An SS officer comes to Fusia’s house and questions her little sister about her whereabouts. When Helena answers, the officer hits her multiple times. She’s left with a split lip, bloodied mouth, and black eyes.

Ch. 30

-Fusia and Max kiss.

My Opinion: This book was very well done; it wasn't overly descriptive, gory, or explicit. It would be a great novel for teens interested in historical fiction or learning about WWII.