A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis
After Mr. Dawson's daughter Aimee wrote her grandmother a letter requesting her to tell her about life when she was thirteen for a school project, for the first time Mr. Dawson learned about his Jewish mother's extraordinary escape from the Nazi rule in Ukraine. Musically brillant, Zhanna and her sister Frina, assume alias names and play out the war years as pianist entertainers for Nazi miliary leaders and soldiers. The girls' grit is astounding. God is not mentioned (in the afterword it is mentioned the family was secular) but their miraculous survival only points to Him. While I read this novel, I listened to Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu, sheet music Zhanna kept with her during the years of "hiding" in plain sight.
Told in verse interspersed with direct quotes from Zhanna. A lot of background information is available in the back, including lists of pieces the girls played, identification of poetry utilized, and field trip ideas.
*Highly recommend for junior high and older.
-Borrowed from the library.
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