This is a fascinating account of a man's search for, not only names on the branch of a family tree, but the stories erased due to World War Two. I think students and young readers will really embrace this book due to its prose and narration.

Michael Rosen, well-known for his children’s books like the classic We’re Going on a Bear Hunt!, takes a different turn in The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II. He writes an autobiographical account of his search for his missing relatives. In the introduction, he likens them to today’s refugees as they were forced to run and hide during World War II.

In England, he begins with names of relatives he doesn’t know, his grandfather Morris and a brother Max who migrated to America. But there were six other brothers and sisters. Three sisters and a brother had stayed in Poland – Stella, Bella, Genia, and Willi. Two more brothers, Oscar and Martin, had migrated to France. When he asked his father for information about these two, his father only knew that one was a dentist, the other a clock-mender. His father shrugged and said, “They were there at the beginning of the war, but they had gone by the end. I suppose they died in the camps.” Michael, not as willing as his father to let this go, begins a long and extensive search. The book recounts his quest through books, online, and in conversations.

Interspersed into his narrative is heart-rending pertinent poetry that he has written over the years in response to what he learned. Into his account of the French effort to list Jewish people living in France but born elsewhere, he writes “I’m Not on the List”:

I’m not on the list./ I’m not on the list./ All I have to do/ is tell them if I know someone/ who should be on the list.

If I don’t/ tell them that I know someone/ who should be on the list,/ then I’ll be on a list of people/ who don’t help them make the list.

And people in my family/ will be on a list of people/ in families of people/ who don’t help them make the list/ of people who should be on the list.

If you’re not on the list,/ or the list of the people/ who don’t help them make the list,/ or the list of people who know people who/ don’t help them make the list . . ./ you’re OK./ It’s all OK./ It’s going to be all right.

The book is an intriguing look at the intricate and unflagging research as he seems to reach a dead end only to find another clue that engenders in the reader the need to root for a satisfying conclusion to the search for those who were there at the beginning and gone at the end. Quite different from his classic bear hunt, this is an intriguing book and well worth reading at any age from 10 and up.

This is a very powerful book in which the author talks about searching for his family’s past—a past disrupted and destroyed by Nazi terrorism. In addition to describing his search, each chapter ends with a poem that further expresses the author’s feelings and responses to this search. So many of us have big holes in our past, that we can understand Michael Rosen’s strong desire to know what happened to his relatives. This book reminds us that searching for the past is sometimes rewarded and always rewarding.

This one is fine. It’s in a very readable format, and it’s an interesting past to read about. However, there are a lot of stories from WWII coming out lately it seems, and this one just didn’t stand out to me as much as others have. An additional purchase.

The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II by Michael Rosen is such a vital book, particularly given the ongoing refugee crisis that we continue to face. This is a very personal story of a young boy, born at the end of World War II, who continues to question the fate of his relatives during some of the darkest days of our history. As an adult, Mr Rosen finds some answers to the questions that have haunted him for much of his life, and he vows to never forget those who went before. Told using maps and poems, and with patient description, the author provides a very readable narrative that will lay the groundwork for further discussion among a new generation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Very interesting book about a man trying to find out what happened to his relatives who "went missing" during WWII. Sad that the older generation didn't want to talk about their lost brothers and sisters, probably feeling both survivor's guilt and deep sorrow over their loss.

Sad also that the Holocaust even happened, but it is VITAL that these stories are taught to children now, so there will hopefully be learning from the past, instead of a repetition of it.

This book was geared towards children and it kind of showed. I am not much for poetry, so the bits where the poetry broke up each section did nothing for me. Not sure how it would be received by the intended audience, but I am sure it will speak to some. Everyone absorbs information differently, so having it presented in different ways is important, especially in a book for children.

The detective process was very interesting and the pictures included were powerful. They were just ordinary people, just like you and me, and yet this horrible thing swallowed them up. Impactful and sobering.

An important addition to the WWII Holocaust canon. Definitely recommended. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

My thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.