“This gripping memoir is written in spare, powerful prose that vividly depicts the endless degradation and humiliation suffered by the Holocaust’s innocent victims, as well as the unending horror of life in the camps. It’s also an ennobling account of the triumph of the human spirit, as seen through a child’s eyes.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS
“A harrowing and often moving account.” – SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Amid a growing number of memoirs about the Holocaust, this book warrants attention both for the uncommon experiences it records and for the fullness of the record.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Perl collaborates with the three surviving members of the Blumenthal family to tell their moving story. In 1939, four-year old Marion was interned with her family at the Westerbork camp in Holland; five years later they were imprisoned in the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Illustrated with black and white photographs, the narrative is interspersed with facts about the rise of Hitler and the progress of the war. Bib.” – HORN BOOK
“Lazan’s recollections, along with occasional quotes from her mother, are intertwined with Perl’s background narrative to make a smooth factual flow. Especially telling are details such as the silence Marion maintains when a secret pot of boiling soup, which she and her mother rush to hide during a surprise inspection of their barracks, scalds her leg. There’s no hint of over- dramatization here; the tone is, if anything, understated in a story carried by the momentum of history itself. Two inserts of the family and historical photos intensify the poignancy of the account.” .- BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS