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Number the Stars is a touching, thrilling, realistic book narrated by a ten-year-old girl Annemarie Johansen, and is about her and her loved ones during World War II. Living in Copenhagen, Denmark when the Nazis arrive, Annemarie and her family are brave enough to take in and help Annemarie's Jewish best friend, Ellen. During Ellen's first night with the Johansen family, Nazi soldiers storm the apartment looking for leads as to where Jews may be. When they see Ellen's dark hair, which was common among Jewish people, they question the family as to who she was, and if she was a Jew. Mr. Johansen shows the soldiers a baby picture of Lise (Annemarie's older, deceased sister), who luckily had dark hair, which was enough evidence for the soldiers, who then left the Johansen's apartment. The next day, Annemarie's mother takes the girls to her brother's house which is more secluded. Once they are there, the family has a fake funeral, which gives them an excuse as to why there are so many people staying in the house (Peter- Lise's former fiance, the Rosens, Ellen's family, and many other guests also arrived later on in the day, before the funeral). As expected, Nazis arrive at the residence, and much to the family's dismay, request that the coffin be opened. Mrs. Johansen brilliantly explains to the soldiers that her aunt (who the funeral was supposedly for) had passed of a very contagious disease, which gets the soldiers to leave. In order to escape Denmark, the families must get to a boat and make it to Sweden. To do this, Mrs. Johansen and her brother, Henrik, must escorts groups of people safely to the boat, which they do at separate times. Unfortunately, on her way back, Mrs. Johansen breaks her ankle and is not able to make the trip back to the boat to deliver a very important package. This leaves all responsibility on Annemarie, who takes the package and is stopped by Nazi soldiers on the way to the boat. When they examine what is in the package, a handkerchief, they let her go, and she is able to get it to her uncle in time. The reader later finds out that the handkerchief was coated with a special chemical that made it impossible for the dogs to detect the humans that were on the boat, meaning that when the soldiers stopped Annemarie and had the dogs smell the handkerchief, the dogs were no longer able to detect the humans on the boat once they inspected it... Annemarie saved the lives of the families that were on the boat.
Number the Stars is perfect for an activity that will help improve students' writing and critical thinking skills. This exercise is fairly simple, and should be fun for the students who enjoyed the book: "Suppose Ellen has a diary. Compose a possible entry describing one of her days with the Johansen family."
Number the Stars is perfect for an activity that will help improve students' writing and critical thinking skills. This exercise is fairly simple, and should be fun for the students who enjoyed the book: "Suppose Ellen has a diary. Compose a possible entry describing one of her days with the Johansen family."
*Grade Level Equivalent: 5.1
*Interest Level: Grades 3-5
Number the Stars is a Newbery award-winning book.
Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf Books..
ISBN: 9780440227533
*Information found on scholastic.com
*Interest Level: Grades 3-5
Number the Stars is a Newbery award-winning book.
Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf Books..
ISBN: 9780440227533
*Information found on scholastic.com