This book is a testament to the struggles and harsh realities of WWII. It was so emotional, and everyone should read this book!

This is a great middle grade and high school read for a student to learn more about escapes during the Holocaust and they shaped history.
Well researched, you can learn a lot from this book.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

Steve Sheinkin, a phenomenal writer of nonfiction, has gifted readers with another amazing story. I am always impressed with the easy readability of his books in the midst so much history. He always researches deeply and this one even more so as evidenced by the credits, first accounts, and secondary sources listed in the end pages.

This is the true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust--one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, both plotting a way escape eventual murder, from starvation, billets, beating, or the poison gas chamber.

Full on into the war in 1944, teenager Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba, has rarely and narrowly survived nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. He is determined he must escape, even though death is more likely. No one escapes a concentration camp and if they do they are quickly found, shot and put out on public display.

Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe, even though the powers that be go to great lengths to cover up the mass killings. He has seen the huge “shower rooms” and the nozzles that dispense the poison gasses, the bodies dragged and dumped in pits then dug up to burn in order to destroy evidence.

Trains packed tightly, full of people arrive daily, with many already dead. Rudi is on a mission and won't stop until he reveals the truth to the world. Nothing can be written down because that would get him killed. Fortunately Rudi has an incredible memory and stores all this away for later use. He plots his escape deftly knowing each day that passes means more lives are lost. Also the odds of his escape are nearly zero percent.

Paralleled with Rudi’s story is that of his schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta's family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names and forged papers to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary once a safer place is beginning to bow under pressure from German Nazis. Chances of survival become slimmer by the day as Gerta inches closer to capture. Capture does come as the Nazi’s are very thorough, and incredibly Rudi and Gerta both escape and do reunite after the war.

This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives

“Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe” is an upper middle grade historical nonfiction/biography written by @stevesheinkin Steve Sheinkin.

I am honored to have received an eARC from Net Galley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

“Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Europe” will be released on August 29, 2023.

I feel this is a must read book for upper middle grade readers and into high school, but it was also perfect for an adult reader like me. I learned so much. You think you know, but you really don’t know. This is the history that cannot be forgotten.

Learning the true story of Gerta Sidonová and Rudi Vrba, childhood friends, both Jewish, and both struggling to survive during the Holocaust. Rudi spent two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, and his escape saved over 100,000+ lives.

This book is a masterpiece. I give it all the stars. Brilliant. Moving. Exhausting. You read it on the edge of your seat, holding your breath.

Impossible Escape is a well researched historical fiction novel. Middle grade readers will find this book very engaging and engrossing.

Steve Sheinkin is a master mind at writing fast paced nonfiction stories. I have enjoyed everything I have read by him and this is no exception.
I keep telling myself not another World War 2 book, however, this is totally worth your time.
I learned so much I did not previously know. Especially related to the inner workings of the Auschwitz death camp.
My mind kept going back to memories of our time last November at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and the large exhibit and model of the camp housed there.
Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book!

This tells the amazing story of Rudi Vrba, one of the first people to tell the world the horrific crimes being committed in concentration camps.

It truly is an amazing story with additions of other survivor’s stories to really flush out Rudi’s journey. It is shocking and leaves you anxiously on the edge of your seat.

While the blurb for this book describes it as a survival tale of two teenagers (Rudi and Gerta), Rudi’s story is the focus. Greta’s story, while interesting enough to have its own book, seems like a distraction from the main storyline. The blurb (and cover art) leads one to believe she is one of two main characters, when it actually reads as a secondary character.

Overall, a good book with an amazing story from history. I would recommend it.

Steve Sheinkin once again proves why he is one of the top names in nonfiction for young people. I was breathless at parts. It's an incredible story told so well. The kids are going to absolutely devour it, I already know I'm pairing it with Neal Bascomb's The Grand Escape and Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray for books that are meticulously researched, defy the odds, and tell stories that are so crucial to today.