Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe by Steve Sheinkin

 Impossible Escape: a True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe

Steve Sheinkin

Roaring Brook Press. 2023

Sheinkin continues to pen dramatic nonfiction narratives of little known chapters in history. In 2013, Sheinkin won the Robert F. Sibert award and a Newbery Honor for his book, Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. 

In Impossible Escape, Sheinkin tells the story of Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba, a Jewish teen who, after being imprisoned in Auschwitz, does the impossible and escapes.  Rudi's decision to do the impossible was to tell the world the truth of what was happening to millions of Jews during World War II. 

Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba grew up in Czechoslovakia. He was Jewish. Used to the occasional antisemitic comments, but as Hitler rose to power and his assault on Jews grew more violent, Rudi was determined to find a way to Britain so he could join up and fight against Adolf Hitler. In March, 1942, while attempting his plan, Rudi was capture and eventually was sent to Auschwitz. He was seventeen. 

After surviving in Auschwitz for almost two years, Rudi, along with another prisoner, Alfred (Fred) Wetzler, successfully escaped. Two weeks after their escape, Rudi and Fred made it to Slovakia. Once in Žilina, Rudi and Fred "gave the first detailed, eyewitness accounts of the Auschwitz death factory to reach the outside world."

The narrative shifts between Rudi’s experience in the camp and his commitment to finding a way to escape and sharing the historical backstory on events that led to World War II and the Holocaust. Alternating throughout the book is the story of Gerta Sidonovà. Also from Czechoslovakia, Gerta and Rudi knew each other briefly before Rudi's attempt at escaping to Britain. Also Jewish, but with blonde hair, Gerta's wartime experience was relatively safe until later in the war when Hitler forced other countries to transport their Jewish population to the concentration camps. The book concludes with Rudi and Gerta meeting up again after the war and started a new life. 

Included is an epilogue, source notes, a very detailed bibliography and index. It would have been interesting in an author's note to read what led Sheinkin to share Rudi's story. 

This is a difficult book to read as Sheinkin does not skimp on sharing the details of the hatred and cruelty inflicted on prisoners as seen through Rudi’s eyes. A perfect book for school and public libraries. This would work well to augment a class about World War II or to spark a conversation on why people chose hate over love. A must read for Holocaust deniers!

You can go here to watch an episode of PBS's Secrets of the Dead that covered Rudi and Fred's escape. 

We Have a Dream written by Dr. Mya-Rose Craig

 

We Have a Dream: Meet 30 Young Indigenous People and People of Color Protecting the Planet
Written by Dr. Mya-Rose Craig; Illustrated by Sabrina Khadija
Abrams. 2022

All too frequently, the voices of the people whose lives have been adversely affected by climate change are underrepresented in the environmental movement. Environmentalist and race activist, Dr. Mya-Rose Craig, is working to change that. In, We Have a Dream, readers meet 30 Indigenous people and people of color from all over the world who work to address the affects climate change is bringing to their communities. 

Each entry includes the persons’ ethnicity, when they were born, and what started their path to activism, how the changing climate is affecting their home, and the dream they hope to accomplish. The second part of the two-page spread is a drawing done digitally by Sabrina Khadija, a Sierra Leonean American illustrator. Khadija illustrations are bright, colorful, simple drawings shows smiling individuals.

From water conservation, deforestation to indigenous rights, these powerful voices share their dream…

A dream for climate justice.

A dream for a healthy planet.

A dream for a fairer world, for all.

These young advocates are an inspiration. Their passion and commitment will resonate with readers who, like them, are looking for ways to make the world a better place for all. Let’s hope their voices will continue to be heard.

Click here to watch a 6-minute video of Dr. Craig speaking about this important book.

Bound By Ice Blog Tour

Bound By Ice: a True North Pole Survival Story 

By Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace

Calkins Creek. An imprint of Highlights. 2017

ISBN: 9781629794280

Note: While Cathy is on Sabbatical until February, 2018, Louise is writing all the reviews.

Today I'm taking part in the Bound By Ice blog tour. 

On July 8, 1879, Lieutenant Commander George De Long gazed at his wife, Emma. He had agreed to pilot the steamer Jeanette to the Arctic in search of the North Pole. It was believed there was a tropical ocean at the top of the world. Many expeditions had tried and failed, turned back or died from drowning, starvation or succumbed to diseases like scurvy, pneumonia, and lead poisoning. De Long’s expedition was supposed to be different. The U.S.S. Jeanette was better equipped, so success seemed possible. The voyage was expected to last two years. Holding back his emotions, De Long knew that if his ship got stuck in the ice, it was possible that he would never see his wife again.

Sandra and Rich Wallace have penned a thoroughly absorbing account of this ultimately unsuccessful quest. Using primary sources, the whole book leaves readers feeling like they are there on this doomed voyage, battling weather, hunger, and the fear of never seeing home again.  

Well-captioned historical photographs and actual etchings cement that you-are-there feeling. 

Well documented, back matter includes a note from the authors, bibliography, source notes, picture credits, and index. You can go here to download an educator's guide to the book.

I used a copy of the book sent by the publisher to write this review.

Be sure to visit other stops on the blog tour

9/17     Nerdy Book Club

 9/18   Mrs. Yingling Reads

 9/19   The Booklist Reader

9/20     KidLit Frenzy

9/21 Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday

 9/22       The Nonfiction Detectives

Alaska's Dog Heroes by Shelley Gill

Alaska's Dog Heroes: true stories of remarkable canines
by Shelley Gill; Illustrated by Robin James

Sasquatch Books. 2014
ISBN: 9781570619472
Grades 2-5
I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library.

Books about dogs are hugely popular with children of all ages. Students regularly come in asking for great stories with a dog as the main character (Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor or Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow). Before they leave they will also ask for a few nonfiction titles about dogs who work for a living. Sometimes there is more requests than I have books on the shelf.  Happily, I have another book I can recommend.

In Alaska’s Dog Heroes, Alaskan author Shelley Gill shares the stories of real-life dog heroes from Alaska’s history. There’s a German shepherd named Buddy. In April 2010, after his family’s home caught fire, Buddy ran off to help guide an Alaskan State Trooper and firefighters, who had gotten lost when responding to the call, through the twisting maze of back roads to his home. Buddy saved the day.

There’s also Anna, the little dog who  pulled an eight-dog team safely across the Arctic on January 9, 1994. Anna’s owner, Pam Flowers was the first woman to cross the Arctic alone. She couldn’t have done it without Anna.

There are fourteen mini biographies in all, including Balto, Togo, and Stickteen. Each brief entry is one page and is paired with a color illustration of the dog by artist Robin James. 

Dog loves will gobble up this one.

Wild Animal Neighbors: sharing our urban world by Ann Downer

Wild Animal Neighbors: sharing our urban world

Ann Downer

Twenty-First Century Books. 2014

ISBN: 9780761390213

Grades 4 thru 12

I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library.

As our human population grows and spreads, wild animals are running out of space. What would you do if you found an alligator in your garage? Or spotted a mountain lion during your morning run through city streets? Ann Downer, known for her absorbing fantasy books, has turned her hand to writing nonfiction with a science theme. In Wild Animal Neighbors, she asks readers to think about what is bringing these creatures out of the wild and into our paved-over, glassed-in, and built-up human habitats, our concrete jungles?

Each chapter focuses on a specific wild animal: raccoons, mountain lions, Japan’s Jungle Crow, coyotes, Australian Flying Foxes, sea turtles, and alligators. She examines what is bringing them into our neighborhoods and what can we do to create space so possibly animals and people can live side by side. Within each chapter are well-captioned color photos and sidebars giving animal facts. Back matter includes source notes, selected bibliography, books & websites for further reading, and index.

Human impact on the environment is an ongoing research topic for students. It is important for students to understand how our actions can affect the world around us. Wild Animal Neighbors is a good title to use as an introduction to the subject of urban animals. 

Go here to visit Ann Downer’s blog.

As I read Wild Animal Neighbors and how humans are encroaching more and more into wild area, it brought to mind the book, The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carmen, the first in The Land of Elyon series. In this enjoyable fantasy, high stone walls surround the towns and roads in the kingdom of Elyon. The walls were built to keep out an unnamed evil, yet what they have done is divide local animals from their food supplies, homes, and families. To prevent an impending invasion, the forest dwellers seek the help of twelve-year-old Alexa whose connection to those of influence helps bring down the walls. I often wonder if Carmen wrote it as an allegory to our modern day problems.

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

The Boy on the Wooden Box: how the impossible became possible…on Schindler’s list
A Memoir by Leon Leyson with Marilyn J. Harran * Elisabeth B. Leyson
Atheneum Books for Young Children. 2013
ISBN: 9781442497818
Grades 6 and up
This reviewer borrowed a copy of the book from the public library.

Leon Leyson loved playing on the Krakow streetcars with his friends and tagging along after his older brothers. Then, suddenly, German soldiers were:
In his country.
In his city.
In his home.

Leyson was ten years old when the Nazi’s entered Poland, changing his life forever. Three of his brothers would die at the hands of the Germans, but Leyson, his sister, mother and father would be saved because of Oskar Schindler and his famous “list”. 

After surviving the war and living in a displaced persons camp in Wetzlar, Germany, in the American occupied zone the family came to California in May of 1949. Leyson was just nineteen years old. “My real life was just beginning.” 

In the epilogue Leyson explains that he never shared what he had experienced during the war with friends and colleagues until after the release of the movie Schindler’s List. This memoir is based on the talks he gave frequently for over twenty years. Told from the perspective of a child, Leyson’s story is very moving. 

Sadly, Leyson did not live to know that Atheneum would publish his book. He died from T-cell lymphoma on January 12, 2013. Please share this book with students who are studying the Holocaust. Pair the Boy on the Wooden Box with these fiction titles about the Jewish experience in Poland during WW2: Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, and Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orliev.  

Listen to Leon Leyson tell his story in 12-parts on YouTube. 

Back matter also includes photos, an afterward, and index. 

The Impossible Rescue by Martin W. Sandler

The Impossible Rescue: the True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure.

By Martin W. Sandler
Candlewick Press. 2012
ISBN: 9780763650803
Grades 7 and up
A copy of this book was checked out from the public library.

It all began during the final month of the whaling season in 1897. The captains of eight whaleships from San Francisco were fishing in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska. They believed they had a few more weeks of fair weather to continue whaling before heading south. Yet, suddenly, without warning during the first week of September, the temperatures plunged dramatically and soon, heavy ice was sweating in from far out to sea. The ships were forced to lay anchor to wait for favorable winds to drive the ice away. But when the warmer winds came, the ice didn’t melt, and the ships were trapped.

Looking out at the ice, Captain Tilton and the crew of one of the ships, the Alexander, thought it seemed to stretch on forever. Feeling alarmed, Tilton and his men understood the dangers of spending the winter trapped in the ice. It meant surviving months of almost twenty-four-hour-a-day darkness and temperatures that plummeted to as far as sixty degrees below zero. Not to mention running out of supplies and the possibility of having the ship torn apart by fast-moving ice.

Martin W. Sandler has written a nail-bitting account of this incredible — nay, impossible – rescue mission undertaken during the dead of winter, which was nothing short of suicide. It would take bravery, detailed planning, commitment, and most importantly, luck, before the sailors, some 265 men would arrive back safely in Seattle.

The rescue mission took ten months and was carried out by the Revenue Cutter Service, the forerunner of The United States Coast Guard. The plan was to take the Bear, the Revenue Cutter Service ship, as far north as the icy conditions would allow. When Bear got as far as possible, three officers would be put ashore. It would be their task to proceed overland to where the whaleman were trapped. The three men, First Lieutenant David Jarvis, Dr. Samuel Call, and Second Lieutenant Ellsworth Bertholf would travel more than 1,500 miles using dog sleds, to get as far north as possible in time to save the men. They had to arrive before March, because that is when the sailors would run out of supplies. What was truly remarkable about this whole mission was that there was no loss of life.

Told in chronological order, the thirteen chapters put readers inside "mission control." From the audacious plan through a hazardous crossing, to contact with the sailors, we are with the rescue team every step of the way. The book is lavishly illustrated with historic maps and black & white photos, all of which are well captioned. Sandler -- drawing on diaries, letters, reports, journals, and in some cases, detailed reminiscences of key participants -- weaves throughout the story the actual words of those who were there. In addition, Dr. Samuel Call took many of the photographs!

The book is well documented with a bibliography, a timeline, photography credits, and index. And, not to leave readers wondering, Sanders includes under “What Happened to Them,” a short summary of what happened to the key players after the rescue was over.

 The Impossible Rescue is a fascinating and absorbing read. Put this in a display with other books on survival, explorers, orienteering, and wilderness survival.

Reviewed by Louise

Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness

Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness
by Donn Fendler with Lynn Plourde
illustrated by Ben Bishop
Downeast Books, 2011
ISBN: 9780892729456
The reviewer purchased a copy of this book at an independent book store.

Here's the story: A twelve year-old boy from Rye, New York is stranded on Mount Katahadin, Maine's highest mountain, for nine days in 1939. He's alone and has no supplies, yet he miraculously lives to tell his story. It sounds like a work of fiction, yet it's all true.

                          Photo of Mount Katahdin taken by the reviewer in Baxter State Park

For decades school children across the state of Maine have learned about Donn Fendler's harrowing tale of survival as they read Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Joseph Egan & Don Fendler. It's the kind of story that grips readers right up until the end. Children's book author, Lynn Plourde, and Donn Fendler have collaborated to create Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness, a new nonfiction graphic novel based on Donn's experiences. The graphic novel format which is ideal for conveying the emotions and adventure of Donn's story.

Lost Trail begins before the hiking trip to Mount Katahdin as twelve year-old Donn, his father, brothers and cousins pack up the family car and head out to Baxter State Park for a weekend of camping, fishing and hiking. Being from New York, Donn is not as familiar with the Maine outdoors as his cousins.Yet, Donn is excited about the camping trip.

Bishop's black and white illustrations bring the story to life.  Bishop skillfully illustrates the land and animals of Baxter State Park. The drawings of wind, sleet and expression on Donn's face depict the severity of the storm on the mountain that scared Donn and made him decide to leave his cousin Henry to go in search of his father. That decision would prove to be Donn's biggest mistake.

Plourde spent a great deal of time talking with Donn about his memories from 1939, and she uses her gift of storytelling and Donn's own words to piece together an exciting tale. During the nine days, Donn injured his toe, was plagued by black flies, fought off hunger, and encountered a black bear. Readers gain a sense of the loneliness Donn faced in the wilderness through the text and illustrations. Newspaper clippings from The Bangor Daily News are interspersed effectively throughout the story to provide readers with a window into the rescue efforts and how Donn's family and the outside world reacted to the tragedy.

The story doesn't end with the rescue; it goes on to describe what happened to Donn after his ordeal (parades, a book, and a visit to the White House). The final panel of the books shows Donn as an adult sitting in a chair on his porch offering advice to readers:
"Trust in yourself, hold onto hope, and believe even if there's no sane reason to believe. And you'll be a better person because you did. I know I am."

Lost Trail will capture the attention of middle grade readers and it's sure to engage reluctant readers. It would make an excellent addition to juvenile graphic novel collections.

5 Stars
(Grades 3-6)


Lynn Plourde, Donn Fendler and Ben Bishop discuss The Lost Trail on WCSH 6.

From You Tube: Footage of Donn Fendler's rescue and reunion with his family.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia: Junior Edition

The Worst-Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia: Junior Edition 
by David Borgenicht, Molly Smith, Brendan Walsh and Robin Epstein
illustrated by Chuck Gonzales
Chronicle Books, 2011
ISBN: 9780811876902
The reviewer obtained a copy of this book from the Southern Maine Library District's examination collection.

I have a loyal group of nonfiction readers (ages 8-10) who come into the library each week in search of The Guinness World Records. If all of the Guinness books are checked out, then they will check out The Scholastic Book of Records or The Dangerous Book for Boys. Now there's a new general knowledge book that will have reluctant readers asking for more. The creators of The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook have published The Worst Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia, a survival guide for elementary school children.

The book is actually an encyclopedia with entries organized alphabetically. Each two-page spread features a topic that middle grade readers will find fascinating. Some of the subjects covered include airplane crashes, bull running, Komodo dragons, polar bears, and avalanches. General information about each topic is organized into paragraphs with headings, making the text accessible to young readers. A fact box with "how to" information provides instructions for what to do in each dangerous situation. If you want to avoid a crocodile attack, then stay away from croc infested water, run away, or punch the croc in the snout. The authors provide information about each event or animal without inciting fear in young readers.

Readers will be drawn to the combination of colorful photographs and cartoon drawings that illustrate each article. Boxes containing "Fast Facts" will thrill the trivia buffs in your library. For example, "The box jellyfish or sea wasp (found off the northern Australian coast) kills more people than any other marine creature each year."

I was a bit surprised that the entry about being lost on a mountain never mentions looking for trail markers. We have a lot of hiking trails in New England, and periodically hikers become lost. The best advice is to try to stay on or near the marked trail until help arrives. The entry on shipwrecks never mentions wearing floatation devices or using a marine radio to call for help.

Despite a few oversights in the survival advice, the book is sure to excite reluctant readers. Teachers and librarians may want to select pages to read aloud to classes as a springboard for research. The Worst Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia would make a popular addition to the 031s (general knowledge). Beware, you'll need to start a waiting list once the kids see it!

3+ Stars
(grades 3-6)