Johanna ReissRezensionen

Independent Reading Level: 4-6
Awards: John Newbery Medal (1973)

Memoir by a young Jewish girl of being hidden from the Nazis during World War II. The more I read the more I appreciated this story, and felt it should be required reading by adolescents. Nothing graphic, but violence is mentioned in passing, such as knowing that relatives getting on the trains to work camps will never come back.½

Review later. Emotionally powerful and heart-breaking story, especially for someone who has read The Upstairs Room, the first book by Johanna Reiss which tells the story of her hiding as a Jewish child during WWII in Holland.

From the first time I read the book (and I’ve read it many times), I bonded closely with Annie, the first person narrator. The story begins in 1938 when the protagonist Annie de Leeuw (Johanna’s name as a child) is six years old and just beginning to hear about the problems that Hitler is bringing to her world.

Four years later, in late summer 1942, Annie and her older sister Sini go into hiding with a non-Jewish Dutch family, the Oostervelds. Annie and Sini are cared for by Dientje, Opoe, and particularly by Johan Oosterveld, who is a loving man of strong character. Their father and oldest sister Rachel hide elsewhere during the war. Their mother died in the hospital of kidney disease just after they went into hiding.

The girls live in an upstairs room (hence, the title), but they have to crawl into the back of a closet when anyone else comes near the house. Imagine what happens when the Nazis decide to make the house their headquarters . . . .

This book is for 5th to 8th graders, but a good reader that is mature could read it when a little younger. And you can’t be too old for this book.

This is a true story about a eight year old little girl named Annie de Leeuw who's Jewish and has to hid from the German army. She has to leave her mother and father to hid at a farm house in the upstairs room. This book looks in to the life of a eight year old, what she wonder and experience at the time. This book might touch the lives of other children they may not be going through what she went through but may find a connection in a way. This book is a great science concept that can show recording things could make a big difference and how discoveries are made.

Still think about this book.

Quick read about a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis in Holland during World War II. Although this was a Newbery award winner in 1973, I felt that the dialogue was a bit boring and redundant, but that may be due, in part, to comparing it with more recent books with similar plots that I enjoyed much more. It's still a good book to start with in teaching children about the Holocaust.

This book won five significant awards, so it must be good to some people.
Annie is a young Jewish girl in Holland. As World War II begins and the Germans invade Holland, she and her sister Sini are taken to a different town to be put into hiding by a farmer, his wife and his elderly mother. After the are situated, virtually nothing happens for the entire book except conversations between the five people in the house. Then at the end the Allies arrive and everyone is free again.
I should note however, that this is an autobiographical novel. As the author is telling her own true story, she didn't have the freedom to develop an elaborate plot. And since she was in hiding, in the house, usually in one room for over two years, what could she really have to tell other than conversations between the people in the house.
I found it dreadfully boring reading. I'm glad to know most people got more out of this book than I did.

2 copies 10-year-old Annie de Leeuw doesn't understand what's going on. Ever since the Germans invaded her town, Annie's life has been in a turmoil. Her friends haves topped speaking to her, she's not allowed in school anymore and now she must leave her family and go into hiding.

Think Diary of Anne Frank, but written after the fact, when the Annie of this story was an adult. For this reason, I think, the writing isn't as compelling (and, of course, her story isn't as tragic), although the story is still so important, and this one may be more readable for young kids.

This book was written as a fictionalized autobiography of the author's personal experience during World War II.

Summary (Spoilers): The main character, Annie, is a young Jewish girl that is forced to go into hiding to escape the Nazis. She and her sister Sini are separated from the rest of their family so that they may follow a Jew sympathizer, Mr. Hannick, to his house and therein go into hiding. Mr. Hannick is seen helping another Jewish family, however, making his house unsafe for Annie and Sini. Because of this, they have to move to a room upstairs in a farmhouse owned by the Oostervelds, living a (mostly) quiet and tenseful day-to-day life. This causes Annie much frustration, and she lashes out at her sister and complains constantly about being cooped up. The girls and Oostervelds create a strong bond, and they care for each other deeply. The hosting family try to make life for the girls as bearable as possible, and I think that this is a great thing for young students to see.

It's an interesting look at how others fared during this incredibly harsh time in history. The girls make it out safely, which is sadly not always something one sees in books centered around these themes.

This book is based off the memories of a young Jewish girl in hiding during the holocaust period. The author was a child caught in war because of her race and was successfully hid for over two years. It also highlights many of the individuals that risked their lives to keep some of the Jews alive and out of the concentration camps.

I've really struggled to get past chapter 4. The writing is starting to bore and confuse me. It's choppy and disorganized, lacking details needed that at times confuses me as to what's happening. It's BORING. Perhaps knowing that this a memoir of a survivor, about her time in HIDING (rather than her experiences in the Holocaust overall) somehow spoils it for me. I feel like the drudgery will not end--nothing exciting will happen. SHe isn't going to get caught, so what's to keep me turning the page? Absolutely no suspense at this point. And I'm procrastinating in finishing it to write this review, so that's how bad it is.

Update: It's been like 3 months, and now it's summer. I'm almost finished, but I can't bare to bring this book into my summer reading. I'm not finishing it, and nothing interesting ever happened. What Reiss effectively communicated in this book was that having to hide for a few years was unbearably boring.


To be fair, I didn't hate the book (I just didn't like it), and it DID have an excellent introduction that summed up the Holocaust quite effectively. A young reader may also be interested in the very first chapter that shows a girl's best friend turning on her completely all of a sudden just because she's Jewish, and how the parents struggled with the decision to flee to America or "wait it out".

Perhaps this book is best suited for really young children (8-9?) or for Reiss's own children, but not for me.

When the German army occupied Holland, Annie de Leeuw was eight years old. Because she was Jewish, the occupation put her in grave danger-she knew that to stay alive she would have to hide. Fortunately, a Gentile family, the Oostervelds, offered to help. For two years they hid Annie and her sister, Sini, in the cramped upstairs room of their farmhouse. Most people thought the war wouldn't last long. But for Annie and Sini -- separated from their family and confined to one tiny room -- the war seemed to go on forever. In the part of the marketplace where flowers had been sold twice a week-tulips in the spring, roses in the summer-stood German tanks and German soldiers. Annie de Leeuw was eight years old in 1940 when the Germans attacked Holland and marched into the town of Winterswijk where she lived. Annie was ten when, because she was Jewish and in great danger of being captured by the invaders, she and her sister Sini had to leave their father, mother, and older sister Rachel to go into hiding in the upstairs room of a remote farmhouse .Johanna de Leeuw Reiss has written a remarkably fresh and moving account of her own experiences as a young girl during World War II. Like many adults she was innocent of the German plans for Jews, and she might have gone to a labor camp as scores of families did. It won't be for long and the Germans have told us we'll be treated well, those families said. What can happen? They did not know, and they could not imagine.... But millions of Jews found out. Mrs. Reiss's picture of the Oosterveld family with whom she lived, and of Annie and Sini, reflects a deep spirit of optimism, a faith in the ingenuity, backbone, and even humor with which ordinary human beings meet extraordinary challenges. In the steady, matter-of-fact, day-by-day courage they all showed lies a profound strength that transcends the horrors of the long and frightening war. Here is a memorable book, one that will be read and reread for years to come.

The Upstairs Room was one of my favorites but this was not as powerful. Still well done but perhaps a little harder to connect with.

Summary: This book was about a little girl name Annie and her Jewish family going through life during the holocaust. Ultimately , Annie and her sister and her father left their home in Holland due to the invasion of Hitler and his soldiers. Annie was forced to leave her school, her father had to stop working at the local little store and her sister was fired as a teacher all because their family was Jewish. The family had to go into hiding so that they would not be sent to the concentration camps all Jews were sent by Hitler.

Personal Reaction: This book was awesome to me. I love stories and books dealing with the history of the holocaust. This story is book is great for students in all grades because the the author ells this story in a not too graphic way which many other books do while explaining the holocaust era.

Classroom extension: I would introduce this book to my 4th or 5th graders and I would have them use their imagination, as im reading the story I would have them draw what they think this scene would look like.
2. I would have the students write short letters to the Holocaust survivors or to the author of this book and let them knw how they feel about reading this story in our class.

This book is an autobiographical description of a Dutch Jewish girl's two-and-one-half years spent in hiding in the upstairs bedroom of a farmer's house during World War II. This book would be ideal for students interested in history or those that may have an interest in other stories that happened during WWII, besides the violence of the war.

Annie de Leeuw and her family live a normal life until the Nazis come to Holland. Suddenly her family must split up, simply to stay alive. Eight-year-old Annie and her sister, Sini must venture out on their own - hiding in a farmhouse - trusting strangers and simply hoping the war will end soon. A powerful, true story of a girl's survival similar to Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl". Heads up, there are a few curse words.

De Joodse schrijfster vertelt hoe zij en haar zus de oorlog hebben overleefd. Ze zijn ruim twee jaar ondergedoken geweest bij een boerenfamilie in Usselo. Kort, eenvoudig proza. Hier wordt een waarheidsgetrouwe weergave gedaan van de oorlog door een 11-jarige. De kleinigheden die irritatie opleveren bij het zo nauw op elkaar wonen, worden goed beschreven. De kleine momenten van vreugde in het eentonige leven van Annie en Sini ook. Als bijvoorbeeld een eveneens ondergedoken zus op bezoek komt: "Toen ik over de rand van het bed tuurde, kon ik bijna twee hoofden op de rand van de matras onderscheiden. Dat van Sini en Rachel. Fijn." 'De schuilplaats' is een jeugdboek en ik heb een vermoeden dat kinderen het leuk zullen vinden. Het verhaal is namelijk geschreven vanuit de 11-jarige Annie, waardoor identificatie niet moeilijk is. Het einde is ook kort, maar sterk. Na de oorlog komt Annie nog een keer met haar kinderen terug in Usselo: "Dat is de plek waar mamma altijd inkroop", zei ik. "Probeer eens of je het nog kan", vroegen ze me. Gehoorzaam liep ik naar de kast en liet me op mijn knieën zakken. Verder kwam ik niet. "Kijk, ze huilt", zeiden mijn dochters."

Summary: This book is about two sisters who are forced into hiding during the Holocaust so that they would not be taken to concentration camps. Annie and Sini hid upstairs above the Oosterveld's farmhouse, which was a small place to be cramped into. They had to hid up there for two depressing years before they were able to return home.
Personal reaction:It was an inspiring story it took a lot of courage for the girls to hide their without the rest of their family and it was honorable of the Oosterveld'sto take the girls in.
Classroom extensions: This could be used to teach the history of the Holcaust. Another idea would be to have children write or draw what they would do or how they would feel if they had to be in hiding for two years.

This is the sequel to The Upstairs Room. The author's previous work was a Newbery honor book which told her story(via the character of Annie de Leeuw) of hiding in an attic for three years while Hitler's evil forces hunted down Jews like animals. Fortunately, Reiss and her sister were hidden by a farm family, poor in finances, but rich in human kindness.

The Journey Back chronicles the difficulty of post war Holland and the adjustment not only for the country, but for those who are now struggling to pull their lives together. While originally happy to be reunited with her father and sisters, soon the family fabric is torn apart by stress. Longing to be with the family who hid her, yet hoping to embrace her biological family, like many, the impact of war forever scars.½

This is a 1973 Newbery Honor book, an American Library Association Notable Children's book, a Jane Addams Peace Association Honor book and a winner of the prestigious Buxtehuder Bulle German children's book award.

Taken from real-life experiences of the author, she tells the story of four years of confinement in a cramped attic room during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Eager to destroy the Jewish population, the Nazi's beat, brutalized and killed anyone willing to hide Jewish people.

Bravely, a gentile family who were farmers, provided refuge for Annie de Leeuw and her sister Sini. Written from the perspective of eight year old Annie, the reader learns of the day to day boredom and fear of their confinement.

Recommended

The true story of a Jewish girl and her sister in Holland who left their home and family to hide in the countryside during the German occupation.

The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss, is a historical fiction novel about two Jewish sisters who survive the Holocaust in hiding. Annie de Leeuw, the protagonist, was eight years old at the start of the war when she was separated from her entire family, with the exception of her sister. The Oostervelds, a Gentile family, agree to hide the children in small room in their home. They risk their own lives out of kindness to save Annie and her sister Sini. The book is filled with suspense and we learn how the sisters survived using their creative imaginations.

This Newberry Honor book is great for students just beginning to study the Holocaust, specifically 6th graders. It touches upon an aspect of the Holocaust that is often forgotten, the Righteous Gentiles—those non-Jews who sacrificed their lives to save the life of a Jew. It is important to recognize these selfless individuals and in doing so, students can contemplate what they would have done if they were presented in a situation to try and save someone’s life knowing they were putting their own lives in danger.

There is also a teachers guide for this book which includes various lesson plans.

I highly recommend this as a good first book on the holocaust for younger children. It is less personal and upsetting than the Diary of Anne Frank but is honest in its depiction of Jews that have to go into hiding at the beginning of the war. It reminds children of the unfairness of the world, the innate goodness of many and the necessity of equality. A parent or teacher should read along for discussion. A good companion to Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.