Number the Stars

By Lois Lowry

(1989, 1998) ISBN 0440227534

Two friends are walking home together with a younger sister, or running as the mood strikes them when they are confronted by the realities of their world.  Their running catches the attention of German occupation soldiers patrolling the streets of Copenhagen and stopped for questioning.  No, they have done nothing illegal or threatening to the occupiers but have committed a tactical error by calling attention to themselves with their running.  It is 1943 and Denmark has been occupied since 1940 when as a survival tactic it surrendered to Germany.  Annemarie Johansen and her family are neighbors of the Rosen family whose daughter, Ellen is Annemarie’s friend.  Before we progress very far in the story we see Annemarie’s family and circle of friends endanger their lives to insure the safety of the Rosen family.  The Rosens and all Jewish people are being targeted by the occupiers for “relocation”, a term which in fact pertained to the attempts by the German occupiers to annihilate the Jewish People. Newbery Award 1990.