The river is the Rhine which flows through Germany. A young girl grows up along its banks in the memorable years from WW1 thru WW2 . She tells the story of her life as a dwarf & how the events of history affect her life & the lives of the people in her village.

Good, but not great. Although beautifully written, the tenor of this book was a bit sentimental for my tastes. The main character, Trudi, was compelling and smart and not wholly likable. I'm all for complex characters, and don't need the leads to be all sunshine and roses, but her constant self-pity ended up wearing me down and I lost compassion for her as the book went on. It seemed that she had to revisit the same emotional territory again and again and again.

That's too bad, because the through-line of a normal town falling to pieces in Nazi Germany and neighbors turning on neighbors, and those who choose silence and those who choose action ... what a great portrait!

I read this when I was about Anne Frank's age and again just recently. When I read The diary of a Young Girl the first time, I knew it was sad and an incredibly horrible thing. It had a much bigger impact when I reread because I went into it having a better understanding of the subject. Anne Frank's diary shows the innocence of a young girl, recounting her daily life in hiding; who belives that there is still good in the world.

"Paper has more patience than people." -Saturday, June 20, 1942

"All we can do is wait, as calmly as possible, for it to end. Jews and Christians alike are waiting, the whole world is waiting, and many are waiting for death." -Wednesday, January 13, 1943

"Sometimes I think God is trying to test me, both now and in the future. I'll have to become a good person on my own, without anyone to serve as a model or advise me, but it'll make me stronger in the end." -Saturday, October 30, 1943

"On top of the world, or in the depths of despair. (Himmelhoch jauchzend, zu Tode betruebt.)" -Geothe, Friday, December 24, 1943

"Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again." -Wednesday, February 23, 1944

"People can tell you to shut up, but they can't keep you from having an opinion." -Thursday, March 2, 1944

"Love, what is love? I don't think you can really put it into words. Love is understanding someone, caring for him, sharing his joys and sorrows. This eventually includes physical love. You've shared something, given something away and received something in return, whether or not you're married, whether or not you have a baby. Losing your virtue doesn't matter, as long as you know that for as long as you live you'll have someone at your side who understands you, and who doesn't have to be shared with anyone else." -Thursday, March 2, 1944

"A person who's happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery." -Tuesday, March 7, 1944

"I don't have much in the way of money or worldly possessions, I'm not beautiful, intelligent or clever, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way. I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too." -Saturday, March 25, 1944

"What's done can't be undone, but at least you can keep it from happening again." -Sunday, May 7, 1944

"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." -Saturday, July 15, 1944

I read this when I was about the same age as Anne was at the time of her writing her diaries and that connection made this book that much more memorable for me.

I've been meaning to get my hands on some more nazi-germany literature but don't really know where to start... anyway this book was...great...i guess.

the only drawback (and no one can help this but myself) was that i was always petrified when reading it because anne and myself were the same age when i read it. looking back, that's both a good and bad thing. good because it gave me that edge on my 'distanced insight' into the life people had to lead to escape capture. bad because as a child i would dread but look forward to the spare time i had that i spent reading because of how scared i was that another person in another time was my age and went through all that.

So yes, I love this book (now).

Anne is a 15 year-old girl living in a secret annex with 7 other people. Otto and Edith, Anne's parents; Margot, Anne's older sister; Mr. and Mrs. VanDaan; Peter VanDaan, their son; and Dussel, a friend of both families. This is a real diary of a girl hiding with these people from the Nazis because they're Jewish. Anne describes everyday activities within the annex. The fights, the scares, the break-ins, her short romance with Peter, her growing pains and her thoughts. She made her story so real because she portrayed everyone there as they really were, good and bad. We relate because she shared the WHOLE story. They hid in the annex for almost 2 years before someone tipped off the SS. Everyone was arrested and sent to concentration camps. Otto Frank, Anne's father, was the only survivor. Anne died of typhoid in February or March of 1944. Her father published the diary to fulfill her wish of letting the world know what happened there.

This is an excellent book. Anne was a clear and fluent writer. She expressed herself so well. Her feelings and ideas translated over decades to me and what I felt at the time. She had to grow up confined. She was a normal girl who couldn't be alone or even just go outside. She had some of the same goals and desires that I did. She dies too young and was never given an opportunity to live. Her work has gone on to change the world. To educate and alter how we perceive life. I realize how lucky I am to be able to do the simple things and just live.

Anne wrote this while in hiding from the occupying Nazi forces, stuck in an attic with several other people for two whole years before they were found. It's so sad, but it really paints a vivid picture of what those years were like.

Like so many things in life the story contains mystery, beauty, enchantment and horror. Dybbuk is Hebrew for "cleaving to" -- and remains one of the most enduring beliefs in Jewish folklore. This is the basis for Sid Fleischman's new book which reveals age appropriate information about the harsh cruelty inflicted upon the Jews during the Holocaust in a highly entertaining and unique way.

When twelve year old Avrom Amos, a dybbuk takes up residence in the body of an American ventriloquist what ensues is an eye opening, educational journey presented through a victim's eyes... well, actually the voice is the conduit throughout the novel that allows the dybbuk to expose at least one Nazi SS commander, find justice for his murdered sister and himself, while at the same time bolstering the performance of The Great Freddie to new and unbelievable heights.

Filled with compassion and thought provoking facts delivered by a sassy dybbuk that has more than one or two ghostly tricks planned makes "The Entertainer and the Dybbuk" a delightful read for all ages. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and would recommend it highly and without hesitation!

Happy Reading!
RJ McGill
3Rs-Real Reader Reviews

The amazing story of Corrie ten Boom, a heroine of the Dutch Resistance who helped Jews escape from the Nazis and became one of the most remarkable evangelists of the 20th century, is told in her classic memoir. Great Book Club choice.

I would hate to be among the killers of the Jews and have to face God on Judgment Day!

True story of a teenage Jewish boy during the Holocaust. A powerful, disturbing book.

Finished around 4/10/2007 in advance of my trip to DC and the Holocaust Museum. A powerful, but short, memoir of his time in Aushwitz/Birkenau. I wish he had expanded on many of his thoughts, but the short/direct approach makes it that much more powerful.

The primary story of book one and of the sequel is the experience of Spiegelman's father, Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany during World War II. This story is framed by Spiegelman's getting the story from Vladek, which is in turn framed by Spiegelman's working on the book after his father's death and suffering the attendant anxiety and guilt, the ambivalence over the success of the first volume, and the difficulties of his "funny-animal'' metaphor. (In both books, he draws the charactersas anthropomorphic animals-- Jews are mice, Poles pigs, Germans cats, Americans dogs, and French frogs.) The interconnections and complex characterizations are engrossing, as are the vivid personal accounts of living in the camps. Maus and Maus II are brilliant in comic book-format but terrifyingly real.

Who thought comics could convey such emotion and brutal dose of reality; especially when the main characters are cats and mice. A well told, fantastically illustrated story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe.

it doesnt help that i am obsessed with wwii, but this book was amazing. don't let the comic-book theme bother you. it's about much more than that.

Sort of like writing about the guys who created Superman, but making them gayer. This is an awesome book, that touches on comics, WWII, Judaism, and the intense desire to suck cock.

like an ice cream sandwich, tasty, but not very good for you.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was an instant popular and critical success when it came out in 2000 being nominated for a raft of awards. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001 and Hollywood has been sniffing around it ever since. Michael Chabon the author wrote the only known screenplay, which struggled to reduce a 635-page book to a 2-hour film. At one point, the cast was Toby Maguire (Peter in Spiderman) to play Sam Clay, Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta) to play Rosa Saks and Jude Law to play Joe Kavalier.

The difficulties for the film is what makes the book a joy as it starts in 1938 as Superman bursts on the scene and ends in 1954 as the Kefauver Senate hearings delivers the death blow to a declining comic book industry. A central theme is the roles of the Jews in the comic book industry: it explored the mythology of comic hero and its impact Joe and Sam own struggles and personal journeys form the stories of the Escapist which in turn shape their lives. Sam struggling to come to terms with being Gay and Joe trying to rescue his family stuck in an increasingly bleak Nazi run Prague. It also explores the historical rip off the artists and writers of the period. Superman’s creators did not come into the real money until the blockbuster Superman movies and a court case prised the money out of Hollywood’s coffers. Historical characters from the period from the comic industry and the movie, art and political world some in and out of the story. The Escapist also draws on Joe Kavalier’s training and experience of magic and Houdini type tricks and the impact this has on his life.

The writing is a tour deforce so that you hear, touch and smell the period. Each character has their own voice and even minor characters when they enter the story in a few paragraphs you have their back-story and motives seamlessly woven in so they become real characters. The point of view moves from character to character and no easy option or resolution is allowed as the story builds to the magic trick ending. Scenes are comic one minute and bitterly tragic the next as you join in the roller coaster of their lives. Yes I am going say it…if you only have the chance to read one book this year make it this one, you wont be disappointed.