Warning to all who plan on reading this book:
Have lots and lots of tissues because this story will have you crying like nobody's business throughout the end!
Also, be prepared to pick up pieces of your heart after it breaks, because I assure you, it will.

With that being said, this book is incredible. I don't know if the author herself has some sort of magical writing powers because WOW is it written BEYOND well. This is an author who put a whole lot of love into her writing, and it shows.
This book just works. It truly does. The setting, the plot, the history just weaves together so well. You can feel as if you are connected to the characters.
All in all - definitely worth the read! I will be picking up a copy for my bookshelf when it becomes available!

This book gave me a little bit of a Velveteen Rabbit/Miraculous Jouney of Edward Tulane vibe. The subject matter deals with WWII in Poland, first as the Jews in Krakow are forced from their homes and moved to the ghettos, then taken to concentration camps, so not exactly light reading. The main character is Karolina, a doll from the Land of Dolls whose spirit came to life in our world through the magic and craftmanship of a dollmaker in Krakow. The Land of Dolls has been taken over by a rat army in a way that parellels what Hitler and Germany were doing in our world. Karolina hopes that the dollmaker and his magic will help her defeat the rats when she goes back to the Land of Dolls.

Overall, I liked the book, but the whole Land of Dolls subplot was kind of unnecessary. For me, it detracted a bit from the story here in the real world. I cared about the dollmaker and his friends Josef and Rena. Their stories felt real and urgent. Every time there was a flashback to the Land of Dolls, I just didn't connect with the story as well.

The cover and illustrations inside were lovely and really complemented the story well.

Even though parts of the story didn't quite work for me, the parts that did work were lovely and I can see this book appealing to my students.

After reading the first 2 chapters I didn't finish this book. I am not sure if it would appeal to the target audience.