Number the Stars
Book of the Week: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Wonderfully reviewed by our own Rebecca.
“Growing up in America, my first encounter with Denmark was reading Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars as a little girl. Number the Stars is about the rescue of the Danish Jews that happened right after Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) in 1943. On the eve of this year’s Rosh Hashanah, I thought there would be no better time to share one of my all-time favorite children’s books (one that, coincidentally, was just re-released in a “children’s classics” edition!).
Number the Stars is centered on Annemarie, a 10-year-old living in wartime Copenhagen. Through Annemarie’s eyes, we see the insidiousness of Germany’s occupation of Denmark. Annemarie and her sister miss having real sugar and new shoes, and are bothered by the German soldiers interrupting their walk home from school. But Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen, is Jewish, and soon Annemarie realizes just how dangerous the situation is.
Unbeknownst to her, Annemarie’s parents are part of the underground Danish resistance movement, and they are risking everything to help Ellen’s family escape to Sweden. Now Annemarie is old enough to be involved as well, and she must lie to help her friend survive. I’ve re-read this book a few times as an adult, and my heart still pounds every time the family is confronted by Nazis and have to use their quick thinking to evade them and protect Ellen.
There has long been criticism of Holocaust novels that center non-Jewish characters, but I think that Number the Stars shows readers the importance of allyship and using one’s privilege to protect and support those in marginalized positions. It takes bravery to resist complicity with a fascist regime, something that is unfortunately relevant once again in the 21st century. Number the Stars shows how easy it is to be a bystander, and how remarkable it is that Annemarie’s family chose not to be, at the risk of their very own lives. The rescue of the Danish Jews is an incredible part of Denmark’s history, and it is one that we can all learn from and be inspired by.”