Ten-year-old Milada and her family lead a pleasant life in Czechoslovakia in spite of wartime privations. Then one night, the Nazis come. Within hours, Milada, her mother, grandmother, and sister are separated from her father and brother. Within days, Milada is taken from her female relatives, too. All Milada has now are questions: Why did the Nazis tear her family apart? Why did they send her to an all-girls' school in Poland? And why does every girl in the school have blond hair and blue eyes?
Summary Milada Kralicˇek has just celebrated her eleventh birthday and is planning her best friend Terezie’s party when the Nazis arrive, take the women and children of Lidice to a school building with women and children of surrounding villages, and select out the children—like Milada—with “Aryan” features. Milada and the other “Aryan” children are bussed to a camp, renamed, and reeducated to be good Nazis. Milada, now named Eva, is adopted into the family of Herr Werner, a high Nazi official in charge of the Ravensbrück prison camp. Still a child, Eva yearns for acceptance into her new family while struggling to remember her former identity and language.
Topics Birthdays. Stars. Family. Friends. Parties. Nazis. Arrest. Examinations. Separation. German. Uniforms. Family heirlooms. "Aryans." Names. Memory. Racial hatred. Secrets. Education. Identity. Adoption. Mansions. Luxury. Prison camps. Smokestacks. The fall of Germany. Air raids. Hunger. Fear. The International Red Cross. Displaced persons. Going home. Postwar restoration.
SRC Level 5.400000
SRC Points 13.000000
Lexile 820L
Trim Size 5 1/2" x 8 1/4"
Language English
JLG Release Date Aug 2007
Minimum grade 6
Maximum grade 8
Reading level Middle
Format Print
Advanced Readers (Grades 6-8)
Advanced Readers
Advanced Readers (Grades 6-8)
For Grades 6-8
Your pre-teen and teen readers won't be able to get enough of these selections. The 12 books here are a bit longer than our B category titles, with more challenging storylines and a wealth of thought-provoking nonfiction.