Jacques and his parents are hiding in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, pretending to be Catholics. On the first night of Passover, Jacques and his father elude Nazi soldiers to gather with other Jews and celebrate the Seder in secret. For this book, Doreen Rappaport researched the lives of resistance fighters and Jews in hiding: brave men and women who managed to survive one of the darkest times in history with their faith intact. Emily Arnold McCully's intense and respectful paintings illuminate the perils of a turbulent time and the triumphs of a resilient people.

Review: The Secret Sender
This Book tells a Compelling story of a family trying to survive as Jews during the holocaust. When the father and son take a dangerous journey to meet in a secret cabin to celebrate their Hebrew holiday.
This Book is pretty depressing. However, there is always an edge of fear that keeps me engaged in the book. I like books that can explore that things won’t be bright and shiny all the time but encourages hope and a better future. What makes this very memorable is the fear factor. There was danger and it could be anywhere, Around any corner. You did not know what was going to happen page to page and that intense feeling carries through the whole book. The hyper Realistic art with dim dull colors really did send this book to a dark tone with plenty to dissect to the class about the time period. The fear actor does indeed keep the fear factor tense and keeps you on the edge of your seat to wonder what happens on each page. Word difficulty though with all the Hebrew does immerse yourself in the word, but I think translations are in order. But besides that, they don’t give TOO much info on the holocaust besides what is told in every story, maybe a scene where a solider is more specific about what they saw would help. Still a superb book overall. Can see this for a 4th-6th grade classroom
Memorability 4/5
Art 5/5
Enjoyment 4/5
Word Difficulty 3/5
Interesting info 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Best Use: read as extended WWII project ( )

Author, Doreen Rappaport, weaves an important and deeply reflective piece about the jewish survival of the holocaust and all of its horrors. She gives a most sordid history the light of hope as she binds historical accounts of secret seders being conducted in the countrysides of Poland and France, and how the Jewish people survived and celebrated passover as the systematic murder of jews was taking place. The story accounts of a young boy and his father, as he is taken into the hills, and taught how to blend in as not to be detected and survive. This book would be honored and informative to all children, but the historical notes would most likely appeals to 2-5 grades, or middle school readers. The book also gives an Author's Note that describes in brief facts the truth of the horrors that Jewish people were up against. It is also highly relevant to today with what is happening to children and families at the border and what the similarities that they are going through. ( )

Inspired by real events. Back material on the Holocaust and Passover.

The Secret Seder touched my heart. It evoked real emotion of a historical event in a short story. In the story, I was able to imagine how I might personally feel as a child going through something so scary. The beautiful water color illustrations definitely enhanced my experience with the text. As a teacher, I would use this book with 5-6th grade students to show what lives were like during the holocaust and then expand into personal experiences students have had that may have left them feeling like Jacque.