The Resistance will take the Rosens, along with other Jewish people, to Sweden via Henrik's boat. The funeral turns out to be an excuse to gather people together-including the Rosens. There, Annemarie is surprised to find that her fisherman Uncle Henrik is having a funeral for their “Great-Aunt Birte.” However, she knows that no such person exists. Johansen decide to take Ellen and the girls to the coast, where Mrs. However, after German soldiers come to the apartment late at night and challenge this story, Mr.

They pass her off as their daughter Lise, who died two years earlier. Still, the young girls do not fully realize the danger that Ellen, whose family is Jewish, is in until Jewish businesses in the area start closing and the Rosens' rabbi is forced to give the Germans a list of Jews in his congregation.Īs the Danish Resistance hides Ellen's parents, the Johansen family welcomes Ellen. An early encounter with two Nazi soldiers illustrates just how much their lives have changed. Annemarie, her friend Ellen Rosen, and their families have had to adapt to many changes since the German army occupied their country three years ago. The Christian Danes possess a sense of community that includes their Jewish neighbors and work to save them from the Nazis.Set in 1943 Copenhagen, Number the Stars is told in the close third-person point of view of 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen. The main character, 10-year-old Annemarie, doesn't see herself as brave at first, but then she performs a selfless act and uses her wits to save others. Beers are offered to adults and a baby is drugged to keep her quiet on a dangerous night. There are mentions of deaths and disappearances, too, including the death of the main character's sister, who was hit by a car before the story begins. Expect some tense moments between kids and Nazi soldiers, once on the street, other times in their homes, and another time a girl is alone in the country with soldiers who have two large dogs. Parents need to know that Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry ( The Giver), is a poignant read about the Nazi occupation of Denmark that won the Newbery Medal, the highest honor in children's literature, in 1990. A baby drugged to keep her quiet on a dangerous night.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. Mention that Papa misses his cigarettes and that the men in his office will smoke anything - weeds, paper - because they can no longer get the real thing in wartime.

Number the stars