Number the Stars by Louis Lowry is a story about the heroic acts of one family to another. This historical fiction is about two best friends who quickly learn that life, as they knew it would soon be gone. Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen who is Jewish are forced to take on responsibilities that no child their age should ever be faced with. Due to the war and the outlawing of Jews Ellen is separated from her family and forced to move into Annemaries house for safety, but soon even there isn’t safe enough for her. As an attempt to save Ellen and her family the Johansens take a short vacation to their uncles house where Annemarie and Ellen think they will be safe, but what they don’t know is that it is all part of a bigger plan for escape. One night Mrs. Johansen and her brother have a “funeral” at their house as a cover up for the Jews if the Germans are to stop by. Annemarie catches on to what is going on and begins to play the part as well. Soon in a race against time Mrs. Johanson and her brother are guiding their friends to safety so that they can escape to free lands, but when something goes wrong it is up to Annemarie to save everybody’s lives. Annemarie must take something to her uncle that will allow them to get past the Germans and to the safe land. The question is can she do it? As I was reading this book there were many emotions tied to it. Throughout the book I felt, scared, sad, excited, curious, etc. Number the stars is such a great book for grades 3-5 because it teaches so many things. Although this story is not completely true there are many facts that are presented in this book that really did happen during the war. Many children don’t fully understand the depths of Hitler and the war against the Jews and I think it is important that they read books so that they can learn more about the past and about historical marks in time. I would use this book to teach my students about the war and about Hitler. I would have students read this book after they have already learned a little bit about this subject. After reading this book a great activity for the students would be to have them make a comparison chart such as a Venn diagram and pick out the similarities and differences in the book and what happened in real life. This would help them learn about comparison charts and help them with their reading skills in learning how to pick out detail and facts in a book. Also, it would help them review the subject and what they already know!
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