Check out my Number The Stars book summary and review that I created to help you understand the basics of this great book. Number the Stars is a work of historical fiction by American author Louis Lori about the flight of a Jewish family from Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II. The story centers on 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen, who lives in Copenhagen in 1943 with her mother, father and sister Kirsty.
Annemarie became part of an incident involving the rescue of Danish Jews, when thousands of Jews arrived at a neutral ground in Sweden to avoid being transferred to a concentration camp. He risked his life to help his best friend Ellen Rosen,
This pretends to be Ellen Annemarie's late older sister, Lis, who was killed before the war by the Nazi army for working with the Danish resistance. However, his ex-fianc,, Peter, who is partly based on Kim Malth-Brun, a member of the Danish resistance, continues to help them.
The title of the story is taken from a reference in Psalm 147: 4 where the author says that God counted all the stars and named each of them. It is associated with the Star of David, which Ellen Rosen wore around her neck and symbolized Judaism.
The novel was awarded the Newberry Medal in 1990 for the previous year's "Most Outstanding Contribution to Children's American Literature."
Number The Stars book summary :
Annemarie Johansen and her best Jewish friend, Ellen Rosen, a ten-year-old girl who lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II. Annemarie has a five-year-old sister, Kirsty. There are Nazis on every street corner in Copenhagen. Butter, sugar, coffee, cigarettes and electricity are rationed.
After a confrontation with two German soldiers, Annemarie and Ellen were told to be more careful. Later, it turns out that for unknown reasons, the Germans are "transferring" Jews from Denmark. In the synagogue, the Nazis took the names and addresses of all the Jewish people in Copenhagen. Ellen's parents fled with Peter, the ex-fiance of Anne's older sister Lis, who died in a car accident.
Ellen must be with Johansen and pretend to be Lease even though she is half the age of the real Lease. At 4 a.m., the soldiers entered Johannesse's apartment and thought Rosen was "doing a visit" with Johansens. Annemarie and Ellen wake up, and Annemarie breaks the Star of David necklace from Ellen's neck.
If the soldiers had seen it, they would have known that Ellen was a Jew. The soldiers noticed Ellen's black hair and became suspicious because Johansen had blonde hair and Ellen had brown hair. Luckily, Lis had brown hair as a child. Mr. Johansen showed a picture of the Nazis' baby Lis and they left.
Mrs. Johansen, Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsty set out the next morning to visit Uncle Henrik's house by the sea. Sweden, a Nazi-free country, can be seen from Uncle Henrik's house. Before they left for his home, Mr. Johansen spoke in code with Henrik.
When they get there, Henrik seems to be in his usual mood. The next day, Henrik says that Annemarie's Great-Aunty Birt has died. A huge casket is placed in the middle of the living room. Annemarie knows that there is no Aunty Brit but learns from her uncle that it is easy to be brave without knowing anything and so she does not tell Ellen the truth about her "aunt".
Later, many come to mourn "Auntie Birte" in the puzzle of Animari. The Nazis came home, saw everyone, and began questioning the family. They explain that Great-Aunty Birt is dead, and they are performing traditional rituals. The Nazis ordered the casket to be opened and Mrs. Johansen acted quickly.
He says Great-Ant Birt had typhus, a very contagious and dangerous disease, as the doctor said. He goes to the casket to open it, but a soldier slaps him in the face and says that when the soldiers leave, they (Johansens) can open it.
After they leave, they start waking up. Peter, who is present, reads the opening part of Psalm 147 from the Bible, which describes the Lord God in the number of stars. As the song became unfamiliar to Annemarie, her thoughts began to wander.
She wonders how it is possible to count the stars in the sky and Ellen remembers that her mother is afraid of the sea because her mother thinks it is cold and cruel. Annemarie thinks that the night sky and the earth are cold and cruel. Peter opens the casket and gives the warm clothes and blankets hidden inside to Jewish families. They move in small groups to avoid attention. Ellen bids farewell to Annemarie and her mother.
In the morning, Annemarie sees her mother crawling in the distance because her ankle is broken. After helping her mother back home, she finds a packet that is vital to preventing anemia. Mr. Rosen dropped the packet when he accidentally fell on the flight of stairs.
Mrs. Johansen told Annemarie to fill a basket with food and packets and run as fast as possible. Annemarie rushes to her uncle's boat on a forest road. He was detained by Nazi soldiers with a dog. When they ask Anemari what she is doing so quickly, she lies that she is taking a basket with food to her uncle.
The soldiers do not believe him, and one of them grabs the basket. However, the soldiers eventually let him go and Annemarie boarded his uncle's boat. He gave Henrik an envelope containing a handkerchief. It contained traces of cocaine to numb the dog's sense of smell.
When the Nazi dogs got on the boat and sniffed the handkerchief, they no longer smelled Uncle Henrik's hidden "cargo," which the Jews were smuggling. Henrik returned to Denmark from Sweden that evening. He told Annemarie that many Jews, including Rosen, were hiding in his boat.
He further explained that the handkerchief in his package smelled of rabbit blood, which attracted the dogs, and the strong smell of cocaine, which made their noses numb, prevented them from looking for the Jews in Henrik's boat.
Several revelations have been made, including that Peter is in Danish resistance. It further reveals that Annemarie's older sister Lis did not die in a car accident but died under the pressure of a tank because she was part of the resistance.
Several years later, after the war ended, Denmark became independent. Peter has since been executed by the Nazis and is buried in an unmarked grave. Annemarie finds Ellen's Star of David necklace and decides to wear it until Ellen returns to Denmark.
In the morning, Annemarie sees her mother crawling in the distance because her ankle is broken. After helping her mother back home, she finds a packet that is vital to preventing anemia. Mr. Rosen dropped the packet when he accidentally fell on the flight of stairs.
Mrs. Johansen told Annemarie to fill a basket with food and packets and run as fast as possible. Annemarie rushes to her uncle's boat on a forest road. He was detained by Nazi soldiers with a dog. When they ask Anemari what she is doing so quickly, she lies that she is taking a basket with food to her uncle.
The soldiers do not believe him, and one of them grabs the basket. However, the soldiers eventually let him go and Annemarie boarded his uncle's boat. He gave Henrik an envelope containing a handkerchief. It contained traces of cocaine to numb the dog's sense of smell.
When the Nazi dogs got on the boat and sniffed the handkerchief, they no longer smelled Uncle Henrik's hidden "cargo," which the Jews were smuggling. Henrik returned to Denmark from Sweden that evening. He told Annemarie that many Jews, including Rosen, were hiding in his boat.
He further explained that the handkerchief in his package smelled of rabbit blood, which attracted the dogs, and the strong smell of cocaine, which made their noses numb, prevented them from looking for the Jews in Henrik's boat.
Several revelations have been made, including that Peter is in Danish resistance. It further reveals that Annemarie's older sister Lis did not die in a car accident but died under the pressure of a tank because she was part of the resistance.
Several years later, after the war ended, Denmark became independent. Peter has since been executed by the Nazis and is buried in an unmarked grave. Annemarie finds Ellen's Star of David necklace and decides to wear it until Ellen returns to Denmark.
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