In 'Hidden Pearl' we meet Pearl and her family. A Jewish family in World War II who had to flee their village. Something they postpone for some time. Just in time, they manage to escape, and then their adventure really starts. Pearl and her family do everything in their power not to get caught by the Germans. This story is true.

I was amazed by this story. I am shocked by the idea that this has happened. After reading stories from the concentration camps, I became increasingly curious about stories about Jews hiding. Something that you will find much less in the bookstore than a story about, for example, Auschwitz. That is why this book appealed to me immediately. I wanted to understand what it was like to go into hiding. So much more is shown in this book. Also how people tried to survive with lies and how Jews remained in society but lived as if they were shadows.
The author knows how to convey the right emotions. There were several times when I had a head in my throat. It touched me emotionally. Not only because of what happened but also specifically this story. Like the way, the mother reacted to all stress and anxiety. The author described very nicely how it became very difficult for her, but especially how she continued to fight for her children. The parents are almost depicted as gods, and I fully understand why the author did this. In situations such as these, parents want to protect their children.
Those protecting parents show something that many Jews did at the time. The parents risked their own lives for that of their children. The safety of the children was much more important than their own safety. Something that has hit me incredibly hard. Small things like this are the reason why this book has made such an impression on me. The author has succeeded in making this story feel so true as if it happened yesterday. Not for a single moment did I doubt that the story was true. I believed the author, the characters, and was simply blown away by what these people had to experience.

"Hidden Pearl" is a very strong non-fiction book about the Jews in World War II. Definitely a book that knows how to make you quiet and emotional. And definitely a book that I will recommend to many in the future!

Hidden Pearl is a wonderful story of hope and courage in the midst of the worse human tragedy in modern human history, the holocaust. Pearl is just a young girl living in Poland when the Nazis rolled in and started sending Jews to the concentration camps. Pearl and her family are forced into impossible choices in order to survive. This book is not overly dramatic in the sense than it doesn't flood you with graphic visualizations of the atrocities committed but tells of the horrors in a more censored way while not minimizing the tragedy. Very well written, smooth and flowing story line.

I hate how Jews were treated and it truly breaks my heart but what a great story while it was sad it was incredible how courageous 10 year old pearl was.

**I recieved a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review **

The Hidden Pearl illuminates her story of being of being a hidden child, and the difficult choices families had make in order to survive World War II.
Pearl's story begins with her family, her parents and brothers and sisters living in the countryside of Poland when they become face to face with the Gestapo invading their village. They were forced to flee in hopes of surviving.

It is stories like these that break my heart. Pearl was ten, her childhood stripped away from her and her siblings like many other jewish children. They were forced to grow up and live in constant fear of being discovered, worry about the well being of your family. She was strong and resilient young girl that is for sure.

I enjoyed that the author stuck soly to Pearl's story. It is tempting to drop a story into context providing details of the war intertwined with the story. I felt like I was listening to her tell her story as she experienced it which I think is important.

I personally don't enjoy giving ratings to memoirs, as who am I to judge their life, or how they write about their experiences. But I highly recommend this book.

I was given this ebook by NetGalley in exchange for a review. This was an engaging short story detailing a young girl’s experience hiding from the Nazis during WWII. It was simply written, and would be great for younger readers. It conveyed the girl’s emotions well, and painted a high-level picture of the horrors Jewish people faced, but did not go into detail of the widespread story of the Holocaust.

When the Nazi's invade, Pearl and her family run for the woods. Immediately, one of Pearl's brothers is missing, and her grandmother dies. Although the remaining family finds a rudimentary shelter, they are freezing and starving. Two of the children set off to find work on a farm. A few weeks later, Pearl also finds work nearby. Weeks, months, and years pass, with Pearl hearing very little about her family.

Although this book is listed as young adult, it felt more like a pre-teen or middle grade book. The book itself could have used more details or description of Pearl's life. The lack of details made this book feel less than real. Although this is not a book I would re-read, it is appropriate for a much younger audience.

Based on the true story of the author's mother-in-law, this middle grade novel describes the severe hardships experienced by families during World War II Poland. Pearl was witness to the shooting death of her brothers by Nazi soldiers, and then when her remaining family fled they found doors closed to them in every direction. Fearful of their own deaths, local farmers refused to give shelter or food in spite of the dire and dangerous situation of Pearl's family. They were finally taken under the wing of a local man, who risked his own life by helping them. Passed off as a Catholic, Pearl was placed in the home of an elderly woman who also turned out to be a Jew-hater, so Pearl had to continue the deception for several years. She was basically enslaved by her "protector" and treated extremely harshly. This book will give young readers a glimpse of the inhuman treatment of Jews by Germans and Poles, the life-threatening choices forced on everyone, and the heartache of being separated from family, not even knowing if they were alive.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Egg for this ARC!

I was looking forward to reading a historical novel set in WWII after reading so many YA/fantasy novels lately. I appreciated that this novel was written by the main characters daughter-in-law and was based on her real life experiences.

The writing is relatively simple and that, combined with the short length, made this a very quick read. I read the entire book during a two hour flight. I was not very familiar with the history of Jewish children being hidden in homes during the war so this was an interesting new topic for me from the period.

My main concern with this novel were the pacing and the nearly unbelievable experiences. The novel would spend a lot of time on one event, then skip forward many months or years in a blink. The ending was also wrapped up very very quickly. If this wasn’t based on real life experiences, I would have thought some of the events were too unbelievable to be real (I had a similar concern with Under a Scarlet Sky).

The premise of this story is fascinating and it's a part of World War II history that I wasn't familiar with prior to reading the book. The author's mother-in-law was a young Jewish girl living in Poland at the outbreak of WWII. Her family flees into the woods to hide from the Nazis. She and several of her siblings end up posing as Aryan orphans in order to be taken in by non-Jewish Polish families in order to survive the war.

Despite the fact that this book is marketed as Adult and YA, it reads more like a middle grade novel. It's very short, only 116 pages, and glosses over the atrocities that you would expect to be there when reading about a Jewish family's experiences in Poland during WWII. This is a short, simple, and superficial look at the experiences of the author's in-laws and I definitely recommend it for readers 9 to 14 who are interested in historical fiction or WWII.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What an amazing short story of a Polish Jewish family who made sacrifices to survive the atrocities of the WW2.
Pearl was lucky to have blue eyes and blonde hair; totally going against the image of Jewish people. Pearl remained committed to her faith despite keeping it a secret and having to live as a young Catholic girl; as she knew it was her only means of survival.
I'm so glad that this story was shared with the world as it's an amazing read.

A short and dark book about a Jewish family during the Holocaust, but it could have been a whole lot better. It's a children's book -- I'd put it in the middle-grade or younger category -- but even so, a bit simplistic, and seemed hurriedly written. There were names that were thrown in, with no introduction, for example, her mother's and her brothers'. The pacing was uneven as well. While their journey through the forest was described in detail, Pearl's life with her cruel employer were rushed through in just a few chapters. Most of all, I did not get a sense of Pearl's relationship with her family -- you are told many things about the grief and the closeness and the anticipation of seeing each other again some day, but fail to feel much.

What I did like was that there was no skirting around the harsh realities. But overall, despite its grim setting, the book left me with a feeling of detachment.

(review copy from Netgalley)

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher’s for letting me read this book.
I really enjoyed this book and was very moved by the story.
I love anything to do with the world wars or related to them, as I love learning about things from everyone’s perspective of what went on. I really enjoy how it was a short book too it made for a very quick read (as I read this in one sitting) overall I really enjoyed this and enjoyed learning about the main character and how the author made you really feel for her.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction and books that are about the wars. I gave this book 4.5 stars.

Blinded by fear and having to hide your true identity is at the core of this heartbreaking and heartwarming memoir about a young girl that had courage, boldness and honored her true self as she had to find a way to survive at the hand of so many who were cruel. Imagine living with your family, a family of 11 a then being forced to hide among the trees, the forests and even sleeping in barns and other places hoping to be undetected by the Nazis who thought nothing of killing innocent Jews just because they could. The hate for the Jews, the disregard for their lives and the fierce way the shot them, took them to interment and concentration camps shows the heartlessness of these soldiers, the insanity of Hitler that brainwashed them into believing his ideology and creating a sickness called anti-Semitism, prejudice, injustice and fear throughout Poland, Russia and England. As the United States did not want to declare war and the allies had to decide whether to come after Hitler and take action, millions of people, families that were innocent, children that lost their homes and parents had to find a way to survive under conditions that were unspeakable and unbearable.

A powerful true story of a young girl, Pearl, separated from her Jewish family to find safety in a stranger's house who cannot know who Pearl really is or where she comes from. Pearl was taken in by a very unpleasant woman who wanted her as an unpaid slave, and hated Jews, however the woman's daughter was kind and that together with visits from a friend and from her brother, made life bearable. Pearl had to do what she could to survive and that included pretending to be Catholic and going to church.

I haven't read any books written by those who escaped the camps through hiding in plain sight before, and found it very interesting.
I highly recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Egg Publishing Company for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#JeLaufer #NetGalley

Such a powerful true story of a young girl, Pearl, separated from her Jewish family to find safety in a stranger's house who cannot know who Pearl really is or where she comes from. Pearl becomes Genia and works hard, on the farm, to avoid bringing attention to herself or peaking her brutal and cruel "host's" suspicions. She works from dusk to dawn in return for food, shelter, and unknown to her housemates... Safety from the Nazis. Throughout her daily struggles Pearl is often visited by Leon, the man who found her a place to live and work, with news about her family. Whether the news was good or bad, Pearl remained strong and always kept her mind on survival. It was also very nice to have a kind and familiar face every now and then to keep her strong in hope and faith. I am very happy to have found this novel on Netgalley and had the opportunity to read this wonderful true story. This was my first novel regarding the Hidden Children and I hope to discover more in the future. Such a touching but still tragic aspect of this particularly horrific time in our history. J.E. Laufer's story-telling was engulfing in capturing her mother-in-law's harrowing story of survival. Great read!

Based upon a true story of Laufer's mother in law, Pearl and follows her and her family as they hide from the Nazis because they are Jewish during WW2. Pearl, and some of her siblings, are considered lucky to have blond hair and blue eyes, and therefore are able to take on new identities and find work on farms.

I haven't any books written by those who escaped the camps through hiding in plain sight before, and found it very interesting. It's well written and you see life through Pearl's eyes.

I highly recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Egg Publishing Company for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#JeLaufer #NetGalley

This s a young adult/adult read by classification. The writing is simple and geared towards a young audience. Interesting story of survival.

A very moving and tue story of a courageous family and their struggle to survive the holocaust. Told from the perspective of a 10 year old girl called Pearl.

An emotive read from start to finish. Based upon a true story of Laufer's mother in law, the book follows Pearl and her family as they hide from the Nazis as a Jewish family during the second world war. Pearl, and some of her siblings, are considered lucky to have blond hair and blue eyes, and therefore are able to take on new identities and find work on farms for the duration. This story of hiding isn't without challenges though, as many years pass before the end of the war and tragedies occur for the hidden family.

A short but sweet read, I enjoyed the simple way of writing which really allowed for the truth of the story to hit home.

The story of young Pearl's survival in Nazi-occupied Poland is uplifting and sensitively written. A short, powerful read.