The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
This beautifully compassionate story set in the Second World War is written by the author of The War That Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won, two of our children’s bestsellers since 2016 and 2017 when they were published. They were set in UK and this new book is set in France, in a mostly Jewish enclave of Paris where the residents are rounded up and sent away. Twelve-year old Miri is separated from her mother and also her neighbour, who has entrusted her two-year old daughter, Nora, to Miri.
With the help of a nun, Miri and Nora escape deportation and Miri finds refuge in a Catholic school, where she must take on a new identity and hide her Jewish faith. However, on the journey Nora is taken from her.
As she grieves the loss of her parents and her Jewish faith, she is determined to find Nora, and she also finds the courage to assist some Jewish refugees to escape the Germans. In Nazi-occupied France, Miri learns that who she trusts could be the difference between life and death, and facing up to the terrifying choices war presents requires a bravery that demands a lot from a young girl. All the while, she is hoping that her parents are alive. This is a story that will completely engage readers and have them yearning for Miri to survive. For ages 9 to 12.