Resistance

"This book was much better than I expected since it's juvenile fiction and not YA like I normally read. It was so good. I loved how it went through a lot of different parts of the Jewish resistance. "

"Super well written WWII book…has a great audio book version too."

"Everything😍 I love all the books by Jennifer A. Nielsen honestly"

"This book has easily become one of my favorites! I’ve never been a huge fan on historical fiction but thanks to this book I’ll definitely be checking out this author and genre."

"I was excited to see Jennifer A. Nielsen has another book coming out. I’ve read two of her other novels, A Night Divided and The Scourge , which I also recommend. <br/><br/>Resistance takes place in Nazi-occupied Poland, where Chaya Lindner’s family has been torn apart by the invaders. Her little sister was sent to the death camps, her younger brother disappeared, and her parents have given up and accepted their fate. It’s a horrific period in history and the book does not shy away from it.<br/><br/>Chaya is now a courier, a person who sneaks in and out of the ghettos, smuggling goods, papers, people, anything to help her people and make trouble for the Nazis. She’s also joined a resistance cell and runs raids on German supplies. And she’s good at it. She has to be; it’s literally ‘be good at avoiding suspicion’ or ‘horrible death’.<br/><br/>A new girl joins the cell- Esther, who Chaya believes is not cut out for this sort of thing. She’s timid. She keeps making mistakes that cost others. But Esther insists on helping.<br/><br/>When a mission goes wrong, the resistance cell is shattered and Chaya is on her own. At least, until she gets a message from another resistance group sending her on a mission...and her partner is Esther.<br/><br/>Their task? Go to the Warsaw Ghetto.<br/><br/>I was a bit surprised to see the publisher’s info recommended this for ages 8-12. I’m not sure the average eight-year-old has the reading level or knowledge of history to tackle this one, and some of the context might go right over their heads. Then again, I could be wrong- kids surprise me all the time.<br/><br/>It’s definitely worth the read, though. Full of suspense, and at times heartbreak, Nielson shows us the spirit of the Jewish resistance; people who were willing to do whatever it took to save as many people as possible, and to show the world that “not all sheep go like lambs to the slaughter”. People who risked their lives so that others might be spared from the extermination camps. <br/><br/>One part that really stood out to me describes how ordinary people could let something like this happen. It starts with small acts of prejudice, and as those become normal it escalates until they can get away with shocking acts of hatred and nobody bats an eye. <br/><br/>Another bit that really got to me were two lines of dialogue:<br/><br/>“Maybe when the world opens its eyes to what has been done to us, they will realize how destructive hate can be.”<br/>“Maybe. But they’ll forget again, in time. And when they forget, this will all start once more.”<br/><br/>I feel like this is all sadly relevant today. And the message comes across loud and clear- remember. Resist. Don’t let this happen again. Stand up to evil and show the world we won’t stand for hatred."