Book Reviews: The Cage and To Life

Wow, it's been forever since I've written a book review for the blog. That's not to say I'm not reading... I am. Slower tan I'd like to be this year, but I am. To check out my progress or become friends with me, check out my Goodreads account here.

Today, I am writing about two books that are close to my heart. They are books written by Holocaust survivor Ruth Minsky Sender, and they are the books that got me hooked on studying the horrible atrocities way back in 2000... 15 years ago. I alluded to these books in my post about visiting Auschwitz a couple weeks ago, and since I recently re-read them, I just have to share my thoughts.

First of all, these are young adult (YA) books - and they read like they are. The story moves quickly, and it will suck you right in. The Cage features Riva, a teenager, who lives in Lodz, Poland with her mother and younger brothers at the beginning of the Nazi occupation. She witnesses everything - from living in the Lodz Ghetto to seeing family members ripped away and dealing with deaths from illnesses. This book details Riva's life as she moves from place to place, facing her fears, and always fighting to stay alive. As her mother told her, "as long as there is life, there is hope", which is a broad theme throughout both books and what Riva uses to keep herself going in even the roughest situations.

The second book, To Life, tells about what happened after the war. We hear that the Jews were liberated - or freed from captivity - but most people stop thinking then. They do not think about the way these people (and in this book, women specifically) were treated by their Russian liberators, by the non-Nazi citizens of Germany, and even of the Polish citizens who took their homes while they were gone. We don't often learn about how long it took these survivors to reclaim their lives - and let me just say, it is a LONG time. I'm ashamed that I didn't know this part of history, but this book is a real eye-opener if you're looking to expand your knowledge of how survivors were treated. I highly recommend reading these books.

Oh, and did I mention that these books are memoirs from the author's own life? No fiction here - this is the real deal. Sender does a phenomenal job conveying the horrors that took place in a way that people will cry along with her as they take in so much information.

Both of these books deserve 5/5 stars from me. They are important pieces of literature, and I wish they were required reading in schools. After all, those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.

To learn more about these books, check them out on Goodreads here:
The Cage
To Life

Have you ever read these books?
Do you also like Holocaust literature?
What is your favorite historical event to read about?


    

Book Review: The Storyteller

Can anyone name my favorite author? No? Okay, I'll tell you, but only because I want to share this amazing woman with the rest of the world. If you haven't been living under a rock, however, you probably are already familiar with Jodi Picoult. She takes current issues, asks herself a 'what-if?' question, and tells the story beautifully... every single time. The Storyteller, her most recent novel, is certainly no exception.

Goodreads gives the perfect synopsis for The Storyteller:

Sage Singer befriends an old man who's particularly beloved in her community. Josef Weber is everyone's favorite retired teacher and Little League coach. They strike up a friendship at the bakery where Sage works. One day he asks Sage for a favor: to kill him. Shocked, Sage refuses… and then he confesses his darkest secret - he deserves to die, because he was a Nazi SS guard. Complicating the matter? Sage's grandmother is a Holocaust survivor.

What do you do when evil lives next door? Can someone who's committed a truly heinous act ever atone for it with subsequent good behavior? Should you offer forgiveness to someone if you aren't the party who was wronged? And most of all - if Sage even considers his request - is it murder, or justice?

Now, doesn't that sound compelling? Or not, if you're not like me. I have an odd fascination with books about the Holocaust. It started in seventh grade, when I read The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender in class. I felt so deeply for the characters, and ever since, I haven't been able to avoid books about this subject. And with Jodi Picoult being my favorite author, reading The Storyteller was a no-brainer.

I don't want to give too many details about the book. This is one you simply have to read. Be prepared to stop and think. Be prepared to cry. Be prepared for this book to stay with you for a long, long time after you finish reading it. But most of all: just read it. It's brilliant; I promise. I haven't been this straight-forward about recommending a book in a long time (probably since I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, also a Holocaust book). Do yourself a favor, and pick up a copy of this book soon. 

• If you've read The Storyteller, what did you think?
• If you haven't read it yet, do you plan on it?
• Are you fascinated with a certain time period in our history?
• What is YOUR favorite book?