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Review: The Night War

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The Night War
By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 284 pages.

Miriam has already had to flee from her home country of Germany during the events of Kristallnacht. Unfortunately, she sees history repeating itself as all of the Jews in Paris are rounded up in a stadium then put into buses that will take them away. Miri, accompanied by her neighbor's toddler daughter Nora, safely avoids the roundup with the help of Catholic nuns and eventually makes her way to the town of Chenonceaux on the border between occupied France and Vichy France. Nora is taken away and given to a family who wishes to adopt her and baptize her Catholic while Miri is forced to pretend to be Catholic herself as she lives during the summer with other girls in a convent school. She eventually becomes familiar with the Chateau de Chenonceau which acts as a bridge between occupied France and Vichy France. When an elderly nun who acts as a guide to Jews fleeing occupied France through the Chateau is injured, Miri takes up her mantel and begins to help Jews escape during the night past the guards at the Chateau.

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley made herself known for deep and moving historical fiction with her Newbery Honor title The War That Saved My Life, and this book follows in that trend. Readers will care deeply about Miri and her friends at the school and gain empathy for the plight of the Jews during World War II. It even contains an afterward that has more information about the Chenonceaux during that time. If you are looking for a fast-paced yet still emotional story about World War II, pick up this book. 

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