In this true and moving story, Alter Wiener, a teen Holocaust survivor of five Nazi prison camps during World War II, transports young readers back in time when an unexpected person demonstrated moral courage in repeated acts of kindness toward him.

I liked this book for three reasons. First, the book pushes the reader to think about tough issues and broadens perspectives about what it was like to be Jewish during the Holocaust. Alter Wiener discusses how the Jewish lacked freedom as he states, “Our freedoms and rights were taken away. We couldn’t go to school. We couldn’t pray in our houses of worship….Curfews forced us to be prisoners in our own homes.” From reading this, the reader may sympathize with Alter and imagine what it would be like if he or she was Jewish during Hitler’s reign. The reader may become more humble and grateful for his or her own life. Second, the plot is organized and easy to follow. The book begins with Alter Wiener “in a small town in the southwest corner of Poland”, and it continues as Hitler’s army attacked and surrounded Poland. The book then continues as “[Wiener] and many others were herded like cattle onto trains” to camps, and it ends as “the Russian army arrived at [his] camp, telling us the war was over.” The reader will find this text easy to read since it is very chronological and easy to follow. Third, the illustrations enhance the story. The book shows a picture of Wiener struggling to carry heavy objects as the text states, “Day after day, I was forced to work long hours. The guards showed no mercy in their cruel treatment of prisoners.” This picture supports the text and allows the reader to understand what is being said, and it shows the amount of exhaustion and persecution the Jewish people faced in camps. Overall, the main idea of the book is that there are good people and bad people in the world. Although many of a certain culture seem bad, not all people are bad; it is important to find the good in all people. ( )