I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. Here is my honest review.

Like most of the reading world, I am captivated by books set during World War II. I read this after having read some pretty weighty books on this topic, all adult. Since this is middle grade, the horrors of that time are alluded to, but not as in such detail. At first, it makes the book seem "less than" but in actuality, it is appropriate for the audience it is intended for. (I have very recently finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's journey for context). I think this is valuable because it traces another set of circumstances from that time period. We are inundated with work on those in the concentration camps. This book explores the ways that people were able to escape Hitler's destruction; this is equally important to remember yet often overlooked.

Wonderful novel based on events that were true.
Their were families that were desperately trying to get out of Poland,during the War yrs.Most had no hope of getting a travel certificate and there were even fewer countries,that would accept them.
Anna's father played in the Philharmonic Orchestra & taught clarinet at a school.
He lost his job and was reduced to the Jew section to continue with the Orchestra.
A wonderful man named Huberman,came along and was accepting tryouts for an Orchestra he was putting together.
If you were lucky enough to get accepted,he assured you a way out of Poland and not just for the people he chose,but their families too.
Anna's father was lucky,as unbeknownst to him,Anna and her grandmother each wrote a letter to Mr Huberman,praising their son and father as a true genius with the clairinet.
They waited for a very long time,for the letter to arrive inviting the father to try out for a position with the Orchestra.He was accepted and this got travel certificates for him and his family
They packed the belongings they could take and waited.
Finally the day arrived and Anna's family,along with nearly 1000 others were saved by this wonderful man,who relocated them in Palestine,where they stayed throughout the War.
Several of the musicians,went back to Poland,as that families just couldn't adjust.They were lost in the Holocaust.

I want to thank Netgalley and publisher,for the opportunity to.read and review "The Sound of Freedom." by Kathy Kacer.
read the book,you won't be sorry !

This was a unique story based on true events of a Jewish man who started an orchestra of Jewish musicians in Palestine. I really appreciated that it was all based on actual events. I also appreciated that the author made the story more relatable with such a unique main character as Anna. I felt like the author balanced the terrors of anti-semitism well with the joy of music. I enjoyed meeting some of Anna's longtime and new friends. I valued the conflicting emotions of Jews wanting to be somewhere safe but also not wanting to leave their home.

This book was not an easy read - but it was well written and would be a great addition to any WWII curriculum in a classroom in either upper elementary or middle school. I plan to recommend it to a co-worker that teaches 6th grade Language Arts.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

My Thoughts:
My first thoughts as I completed reading this book: that it is uplifting and heartwarming. It is filled with moments of tension, of joy, of exultation, of relief, of heart pounding fear, and more. I could picture myself in Anna’s place easily – thanks to Kathy Kacer’s descriptive, emotionally-charged yet not overpoweringly so, and a-keep-reading narrative.

This book is a fictional novel based on true historical events. I had no idea of the story behind it until I picked up this book and I am so glad now I did. It is always wonderful to learn about real life heroes, like Bronislaw Huberman, who helped almost a thousand Jews escape Poland, using music as the saving force.

The story is told from the viewpoint of young Anna, who is leading a blissful life with her dad and her grandmother, and enjoying her days with her best friend. But things are changing in 1936 Poland. Soon, Anna witnesses the changes and the dangers of Nazism and the anti-Semitic sentiments around her. She is convinced that her family needs to leave Poland as it is not safe for them anymore while her dad does not believe so.

Soon, other events force them to make a move, and Anna’s dad successfully auditions for the orchestra. They begin their journey from Krakow to Palestine, but what waits for them next?

The book is written with the right balance of emotion, portraying the harsh realities of 1936 Poland while keeping it appropriate for the target audience.

Memorable Lines:
Well, just some of them really!

On life and death, from a child’s perspective: ‘Baba said that her body had turned off, like turning off a lamp. But that did not make sense to Anna. You could turn a lamp back on. ‘ – Anna, on hearing her grandmother after her mom died due to illness within a few weeks of falling sick
On music: ‘Her notes hung in the air like stars in the sky. Sometimes…… it was like listening to sunshine.‘ – Anna, about the clarinet playing of one of her friends (also her father’s music student)
On music again: ‘Sometimes the music swelled …… a storm blowing through the city. ……notes… as soft and as light as butterflies floating on air. ……as playful as a litter of kittens. That was the best thing about going to a concert. It was the listening‘ – Anna, as she listened to a concert rehearsal.
On the definition of home: ‘What is a home? Isn’t it a place where you feel safe?‘ – Baba ponders this thought. And, dear reader of my blog, don’t you think it sad that this is such a relevant question to ask even today across the world?
On family: ‘Food was her grandmother’s favorite remedy. And while it would not take the pain away, it would remind her how lucky she was to live in this loving family.’ – Anna, about her family, her Baba.

Facts Discovered and Beautiful Truths Reaffirmed:
(from the book and from the Author’s Note at the end):
That there are always good people in the world – people who are willing to go above and beyond to save humanity – like Bronislaw Huberman.
Huberman lost his violin twice. And found twice as well. The second time, it was discovered years after his death. It was later bought by Joshua Bell, the world famous violinist.
The wonderful Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra owes its existence to the events of this book
And I am watching the Orchestra of Exiles based on Huberman’s amazing orchestra with these musicians from Europe soon. It is available on Prime Video!


In Summary:
The Sound Of Freedom is a gentle way to introduce children to the beginnings of the Holocaust, and Kacer weaves historical fact and fiction seamlessly, making it just-so-right for the target audience. It is an excellent addition to classrooms (and home libraries too) and provides a lot of room for discussion questions.

While Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl will remain my most favorite read about this harsh part of history followed by The Book Thief, this book is going up on my list of ‘please-read-this-book’ list too.

Rating: A
Reading Level: 9 years and up
Reread Level: 4.5/5

Disclaimer: Thank You #NetGalley for the DRC of this book. The opinions are my own.

I'm amazed how well this book was written for middle aged kids/ preteens and possibly young teens. This could be read by all age groups.

This is a historical novel which takes place right when the Nazis and Hitler were coming into power. The setting starts in Poland.

I was able to understand, feel, and enjoy the book. It's not quite the same as Anne Frank but it's relatable. The kids will understand and appreciate this novel and history. It would make an excellent discussion in classrooms.

I'd give this book low 4 stars.



I recieved this ARC from Annick Press Ltd through Net Galley in an exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

"The Sound of Freedom" is not a Holocaust literature but more about the German persecution of the Jews. Loosely based on a true story about a renowned Jewish musician, Bronislaw Huberman, who organized an orchestra by auditioning talented Jewish musicians all over Europe to join him in Palestine. Amidst political upheaval and difficulties to obtain travelling documents, Huberman successfully saved over thousand lives of many Jewish musicians and that of their families.

Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews are always some heavy topics to read. "The Sound of Freedom" offers a fresh, innocent and positive voice in the genre and it manages to break the heavy topic to young adults gently. I enjoyed reading "The Sound of Freedom" for the most part and I am now interested to research more on Bronislaw Huberman.

I'm sure this book is fine for a third or fourth grader, but I couldn't help but be bored by it. There's literally no conflict in this book that isn't resolved in less than five pages. There's are plenty of things that happen, but the solution is always readily available. I did like the idea of Bronislaw Huberman's story being given a voice finally, though. He was quite an amazing man.

Being a musician, I was intrigued by the story of an orchestra for Jewish musicians during World War II. I was even more impressed that this was based on the true story of Huberman. I will be sure to recommend this book to the right reader in my library and in my book talks to elementary and middle school students. Specifically, I will mention this book to any student who is interested in World War II, music, and stories of hope.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel set in the years leading up to the beginning of the second World War is geared to the young adult reader but was equally appealing to me as an adult reader. It was inspired by the true story of Bronislaw Huberman, a world-renowned violinist who helps hundreds of Jews leave Europe for Palestine pre-World War II. This was a story that was unfamiliar to me but that I am glad to have finally discovered. It reminds me that there will always be people willing to put themselves out to help save others.

Huberman started an orchestra in Palestine made up primarily of Jewish musicians who were in desperate need of a way to a safe place.

This particular story is told from the viewpoint of Anna, a young Jewish girl who is already seeing and feeling the changes that anti-semitism is bringing to her world even before her clarinetist father seems to recognize them. I was incredibly moved by the story of this family as they debated what they could do and eventually learned of the creation of a wonderful orchestra that might offer them safety. Anna experiences so many losses as friends leave and finally she, her Father and her grandmother leave but along the way she also makes new friends and adapts to her new location.

There were moments of sadness within the story and times where I wanted to shake certain characters and just yell out to them that they were making a mistake.

This is a book which should move any young adult reader and would be a great book to include in a school curriculum to teach about the beginnings of the Holocaust.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A part of Holocaust history I did not know. Moving, beautifully rendered and very inspiring! 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley and Annick Press, for an advance copy. Opinions are mine.

#TheSoundOfFreedom #NetGalley

This was a wonderful young readers’ story about a family escaping Europe during WWII through an orchestra that was created to save Jewish musicians in the Holocaust. Based on true events, I’d recommend it for grades 5 and up.

Thank you for my e-copy!

In The Sound of Freedom, we learn of Anna, a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Krakow, Poland, as Hitler is in power in Germany and Nazism is spreading throughout Europe. She lives with her widowed father and her grandmother.

Anna witnesses changes in her city: classmates singling out Jews to harass, her musician father sitting in the "ghetto seats" off to the side from the rest of the orchestra, the Jewish shopkeeper having his business vandalized and he himself is later beaten while others just watch and cheer.

As she wrestles and tries to come to terms with these developments, when cruelty can be done but the law is silent, Anna learns of a famous violinist coming to Poland to recruit musicians for a new orchestra in Palestine. He is singling out Jews in order to rescue them, as legitimate travel papers are harder and harder to come by.

The themes of security and what really matters as far as your location are discussed, as in one such instance in chapter 8:

"'What is a home?' Baba asked. 'Isn't it just a place where you feel safe?'"

There are some stressful moments of uncertainty as Anna and her family are waiting to relocate, and then we witness what it is like to call a new, foreign place home; not all can make the adjustment and choose familiarity over safety.

This book is based on factual events. I envision this being a helpful introduction for middle-school students, as they will empathize with what it must be like to say goodbye to friends and start over in a place where the language is unfamiliar and difficult to grasp. I can remember when I was teaching watching 14-year-old students encounter a novel depicting events in the Middle East; they were unfamiliar geographically with the setting, but the teenager's experiences drew them in and captivated them, allowing the students to fully engage with the historical lessons they did in their social studies class in a way they couldn't have before.

I appreciated this story, but I admit the execution had me longing for a little more finesse -- the information is clearly conveyed and will help facilitate learning and conversations, but I wanted to be transported away, yet it never drew me in completely.

The Sound of Freedom by Kathy Kacer is a middle-grade novel about a Jewish family in Krakow, Poland in 1936. Life has become increasingly dangerous, as the violence and persecution of Jews increase. Anna is afraid if they don’t escape soon, something really bad will happen. Her father is a talented clarinetist in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. They hear that Bronislaw Huberman is auditioning Jewish musicians from all over Europe for a new orchestra in Palestine. If her father auditions and is accepted, she and her grandmother can leave Poland with her father for a new life in Palestine. 

Stories of Jews in the Holocaust have fascinated me since I was a kid. The first book about the Holocaust I read was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, then later A Diary of Anne Frank, and many more.  My interest in the Holocaust is why I requested a copy of this book from NetGalley.

The Sound of Freedom is an introduction to the beginning of the Holocaust for middle-grade students. The story is told through the eyes of Anna, focusing on the growing anti-Semitism she sees going on around her and that eventually happens to her. It is set in 1936, before Germany’s invasion of Poland and as Hitler is rising in power, so the real horrors of the Holocaust have not yet started.

While the story of Anna’s family is fiction, Bronislaw Huberman really was a world-renown violinist and did create the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra to save over a thousand Jews by recruiting them for the newly formed orchestra. Anna’s story is representative of the lives saved by Bronislaw Huberman.

While the story is for middle-grade student, it tells the harsh reality of the what was happening.  Readers will be faced with the problems and issues of the era. Some of the families leave the orchestra to go back to their homeland, and Anna is concerned for their safety and the reader is left to wonder what happened to them. The story also mentions the tensions between the Arabs and the Jewish peoples in Palestine. Anna's family may have escaped Poland, but they are faced with issues in Palestine.

I give the story 4.5 stars. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the time-period. The Sound of Freedom would make an excellent addition to a Holocaust study.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy from Annick Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great kid's chapter book about the Holocaust, but about a side not often portrayed in literature about the Holocaust - it is the story of the Jewish refugee band that was brought to Palestine to avoid the rise of Hitler. The conductor saved many thousands of lives as a result (the book is based on a true story). It is told from the point of view of a young girl whose father auditions for the orchestra so they can leave Poland. It makes the climate of the time more visceral to see it through a child's eyes, without being too scary. Should get kids interested in what happened next, across Palestine as well as across Europe.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'd call this an almost Holocaust book- because they get out just in time. The setting is Krakow just prior to the German invasion of Poland. Anna and her father live with her grandmother and at first, has a pretty normal childhood. As time progresses Anna starts feeling different in her Jewishness and experiences prejudice first hand. 

Luckily, her father is a professional musician and gets a chance to audition for the Palestinian Symphony Orchestra (created by the real person Bronislaw Huberman) to which many European Jews are recruited, thereby saving the lives of them and their families from the Nazis. It's a story I had never heard before and it was riveting. I was tense turning the pages- would he get chosen? Since I didn't know the real story I had a sinking feeling that they would all be sent to camps.

This story is perfect for younger middle graders and other sensitive readers who may not be ready to read the horrid details of the Holocaust.

Nicely written, was a great story about a little girl that followed her father out of Poland before anything bad could of happen to them for being Jewish

It is 1936 in Krakow, Poland and Hitler is making his move on the Jewish families. Anna has always led an idyllic and mostly happy childhood going to school and listening to her father play his clarinet in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. As Hitler starts enforcing his reign outside of Germany her family understands it is time to move. Bronislaw Huberman is taking auditions for his new orchestra in Palestine, a city that is safer for Jewish families. Will Anna's father get a spot and the family get their travel visas before it is too late?

I am a big reader of World War 2 fiction at it doesn't matter if it is an adult book or a children book I want to read it. The Sound of Freedom was extremely interesting as it was a story from a different country than Germany. I was also interested as it based loosely on a true story as Bronsilaw Huberman really did start an orchestra in Palestine and go to Poland auditioning people for spots and provided thousands of travel visas for families. I would like to read more about him.

The view point from Anna is very relatable for children in grades 4-7 as she talks about the things that are important to her at that age and those things are important to every child no matter the year or surroundings. She thinks about leaving her friends and how she will feel. She thinks about what to leave and what to take. She thinks about making new friends in a country that she does not know the language. Anna also shows how to gather courage and lets the reader know that each one of us is stronger than we think.

I hope to see this book in school libraries very soon.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Annick Press Ltd. through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

"The Sound of Freedom" is not a Holocaust literature but more about the German persecution of the Jews. Loosely based on a true story about a renowned Jewish musician, Bronislaw Huberman, who organized an orchestra by auditioning talented Jewish musicians all over Europe to join him in Palestine. Amidst political upheaval and difficulties to obtain travelling documents, Huberman successfully saved over thousand lives of many Jewish musicians and that of their families.

Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews are always some heavy topics to read. "The Sound of Freedom" offers a fresh, innocent and positive voice in the genre and it manages to break the heavy topic to young adults gently. I enjoyed reading "The Sound of Freedom" for the most part and I am now interested to research more on Bronislaw Huberman.

And as a fan of classical music myself, reading anything about music adds additional satisfaction. Thanks Annick Press for providing e-gallery for my enjoyment. I will certainly consider adding "The Sound of Freedom" to my personal collection.

I appreciated the title of the book and the picture of a clarinet and a case with each chapter heading as they related to the story of earning ones freedom from Hitler during WWII.
You will enjoy reading about Anna and her friend, Renata, as they enjoy their friendship in Krakow, Poland before the Nazis ruin their homeland. Anna’s Father, Avrum Hiroshima, was a gifted clarinetist, who played with the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra and lectured at the music academy.
Anna and her grandmother hear about an audition that is being given by a famous violinist,
Mr. Huberman, to recruit musicians to form an orchestra in Israel. Anna’s Father does not believe that the Jews in Poland will be mistreated or harmed, so he does not enter his name in the audition, but Anna begs her grandmother to enter her father’s name for the audition.
You will have to read the book for yourself to find out what happens to Anna, her friend, and her father and grandmother.

The Sound of Freedom
by Kathy Kacer
Annick Press Ltd.

Annick Press
Children's Fiction , History
Pub Date 13 Mar 2018


I am reviewing a copy of The Sound of Freedom through Annick Press and Netgalley:


Anna and her family have one hope left in order to escape certain doom. In 1936 things are getting exceedingly dangerous for the Jews of Krakow. As violence increase daily Anna begs her Father to leave Poland but time and time again he tells her that is not possible. He cannot give up his place as acclaimed clarinetist in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. Anna and her Father barely escape a group of violent thugs, making it clear that the family must leave.


How will they leave? Their seems to be only one option Bronislaw Huberman a world renowned violinist is auditioning Jewish Magicians for a new orchestra in Palestine. If they are accepted they and their families will be given exit visas.


Anna and her Grandmother decide to write Hubetman giving her Father an audition, but will it be enough?


The Sound of Freedom is a fictionalized account of prewar Poland and Palestine its a story of sacrifice, loss and survival.


I give The Sound of Freedom five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!