Kaasni Pillai

This is a wonderful book! It incorporates two perspectives: Brandon, who struggles to survive through the 9/11 attack, and Reshmina, an Afghani girl who faces a moral dilemma when an American soldier seeks desperate refuge in her warring village. What I love about Alan Gratz is that he informs the reader about significant historical events in a captivating way. This book features likeable characters, two realistic plots, and a wonderful theme: humanity's survival depends on us working together, not alone. Overall a great read!

Many run on sentences. Over -exaggeration on too many unimportant aspects of the story. Under-exaggeration on the few actually important parts. Whole entire story revolves around spirits, ghosts, and other made-up things. Without these fantastical things, book has no premise. Overall, a pretty abysmal, boring, and underwhelming read.

This was an incredible book. It features nine-year-old Bruno, who is abruptly forced to leave his home in Berlin and move to a strange, foreign place. From his new "home," he sees a fence, far off in the distance. I hope you never come across a fence like this one. This book is impossible to forget, as the ending will leave an inescapable mark on the heart. The underlying message is one that will forever stay with the reader: Goodness resides in us all, regardless of religion, race, or circumstance.

I absolutely loved this book! The story follows 13 year-old Michael O'Shaughnessy, the son of Germany's Irish ambassador, and undercover spy for the Allies. Much to his chagrin, Michael is in the Hitler Youth, and gradually increases in superiority amongst the Nazi hierarchy. But when a Jewish English bomber is shot down, Michael and his family secretly harbor him in their book closet, and Michael begins giving the pilot the top secret information he is given within the Hitler Youth. Through the book, Michael is forced to befriend the enemies, become someone he truly isn't, face his fears, and turn on the people he loves in order to save the lives of everyone else. This may be my favorite book, and I will always recommend it!

I love this book! Many different perspectives are incorporated into it, each reflective of the numerous struggles their group faced in World War Two. The book mainly focuses on American soldier Dee, who is likeable and relatable. Dee is secretly a German-born citizen, and struggles to confess that to his personal ally, Sid, who just so happens to be a Jew. The book also shows the sacrifices made by each branch of the military, civilians, and French Resistors. The reader will be wrapped up in the relationships, emotions, and internal conflicts of each character. One particular moment when a character dies is especially emotional, though the author doesn't spend much time on their death, which is reflective of just how many lives were lost on D-Day. The way all the various characters' stories were wrapped together in the end was pure genius. The ending was incredibly powerful, and I read it more times than I probably should've. Through the whole book, with each characters' victories and losses, one central message is present the entire time: we are all Allies.

This book was incredible! Alan Gratz certainly lives up to his reputation. The story follows Jack Gruener, an adolescent Jew living amidst Nazi Germany. Jack is sent to ten internment camps in the book, where he faces countless setbacks, cruelty, devastation, merciless Nazis, but also miracles. The ending is not very exciting, but it is heartwarming and gives perspective to what the poor Jews had to face in World War Two. If you like historical fiction, and even if you don't, you'll certainly love this book. I couldn't pry my eyes off of it, and then I was sad when I finished it so quickly. I recommend this book to anyone!

It's truly 4.5 stars in my opinion. Not my favorite of Alan Gratz's, but this book definitely didn't disappoint. The book tells the perspectives of two teen-aged boys, Ray, who is fighting for the US military, and Hideki, who is fighting for the Japanese Imperial Army. Both boys are young, cowardly and afraid, and struggle to overcome the fears that hold them back. Ray is definitely more likeable out of the two of them, as he actually seems to have a background story. A lot of Hideki's struggles are based off of Japanese "spirits" and somewhat controversial ideology, and so if you don't believe in that stuff it seems kind of meaningless. For this reason, when Ray dies and the story focuses completely on Hideki, the book worsened a little bit. Not to mention, the ending is pretty unsatisfying and completely revolves around the Japanese beliefs and Ray's "mabui"(you'll learn what that is in the book). Despite this, I'd still recommend the book, as for the most part, the characters are easy to relate and cause the reader to feel emotions. (I was moved to tears when Ray died). 9/10 to sum it all up.

A historical book with a modern- day moral. Overall a great read.

A beautiful tale of friendship, grief, and discovery. Will leave you in tears. One of my favorites.

Truly one of the most heart-breaking and heartwarming novels there are. It is personally my favorite book.