Jacob's Rescue

After escaping from the ghetto in which his family is imprisoned, Jewish boy Jacob Gutgelt lives for four years passing as a non-Jew, struggling through the daily terror of being caught.

Grade 5-9-- The year that she is eight, Marissa asks a fifth question at the family Passover Seder. She wants to know who the two guests are who have been staying with her family; they are participating in and enjoying the Seder, and they're "not even Jewish." The response is what her father calls a story from the heart, the story of how Alex and Mela Roslan saved him and his brother during the Holocaust. The remainder of the book is that story, set in Poland between 1941-1945. Characters are well developed and multidimensional, and the story is a poignant one. While it might be difficult for today's readers to understand the kind of heroism and goodness demonstrated by the Roslan family, who risked their lives every day to protect children who were not even related to them, they will become immersed in another time and place. Powerful emotions are described and presented in an understandable format. This is a fictionalized account of a true story and real people; unfortunately, no mention is made of the relationship between the authors and the characters. --Susan Kaminow, Arlington County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Marissa squirmed in her seat with a stomach crying out for food," begins this fact-based novel about a Polish family that hides two Jewish brothers during WW II. Unfortunately, such prose frequently blunts the life-and-death urgency of Drucker and Halperin's subject matter as well as their evocation of the terror and courage of their protagonists. The most heroic gestures don't quite ring true--for example, Alex Roslan, the head of the Polish family, sells his apartment to the first person he meets when Jacob, one of the Jewish boys, needs an operation and a bribe is required to quiet the nurse. The authors, furthermore, often inject composition-class-style conclusions into their narrative ("The juxtaposition of amusement and death left him without words"). They are much better at the smaller moments: when Alex brings home a single white roll and gives it to Jacob, the boy avoids looking at Alex's little daughter ("She must hate me. . . . I guess I don't blame her"); one of Jacob's brothers joins him in hiding, and Jacob's relief quickly turns to jealousy. Enough of these moments exist to engage the reader's imagination, if not to infuse the story with unflappable authenticity. Ages 7-11.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.