Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This book tells the stories of several Jewish kids during the Holocaust. Some were sent to the camps and a few were not; yet the Holocaust affected them all. They still had hope even during those dark days and their stories are still relevant today.

Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, is a non-fictional book written by Amanda Friedeman and Kelley Szany. This book includes the stories of nine Jewish children who grew up during and survived the Holocaust. They all survived in different ways, and experienced different forms of loss and pain, but they all also learned something from their experience. They all also recognized the importance of sharing their story, so that others can learn, and that we can make sure that history does not repeat itself.
I really appreciated the honesty and vulnerability shown in the stories. I also liked that throughout the book the authors took time to explain different terms or situations. I think it is very helpful that each chapter ended with a lesson, something that the story teller has learned. I believe that this is a wonderful book for middle school aged students, and that this can be a great historical lesson.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the authors and publisher of this book, as well as to all of those who shared their stories, for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This may seem an odd Christmas read but the more I watch the news, the more relevant it iseemed to be to read it now. These are stories of real people, children at the time, who faced the horrors of discrimination. Some were sheltered by sympathetic non-Jewish families, other faced the horrors of the concentration camps. What they have in common is that they survived, scarred and changed forever. Even those who were ultimately reunited with families. The modern images of children in cages calls back this horrific era, one we'd like to believe can never happen again. Often, we're not so sure about that.

In any case, while I won't detail the nine lives shared here, I'll note that each shares a lesson in life the survivor learned. Each story touched me in different ways, whether imagining the fear of thinking your family has abandoned you to, yes, the horrors of life in a concentration camp. Each story shares a photo of the subject in their more youthful days as well as biographical information that includes where they ultimately began their lives over. There are relatively current photos, too, as well as brief snippet of what they would capsulize as what they learned from their experience that helped them survive and adapt to their "interrupted lives". One woman's story hit home as it stressed her efforts to encourage people to use their power, their vote.

Bottom line, this is an important book, albeit on aimed at young readers. It makes one wonder how we would have survived. IF we would have survived. While undeniably a tough, sad read, it is the reality of our past with hopes it isn't our future. It was inspiring to see how these people have gone on to live and contribute to the world in ways both big and small. My thanks to them for probably reluctantly agreeing to share their stories. Also, thanks #LernerPublishingGroup for making this available for an early read. As a former history teacher who has read many, many books on this era, this one, in its simplicity, managed to touch me. I highly recommend it to not only my teacher friends but those who hope for a better world. Knowing where we were helps us find our way toward a better future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book geared towards kids focuses on five females and four males who were liberated from Nazi concentration camps at the end of WWII. All nine made their homes in the United States. Each story includes photographs of the survivors when they were younger, and then another photo of them taken in the last few years.

I don’t think I need to tell you how important books like this are, not only for children but for anyone who stumbles upon Holocaust deniers. These nine stories bring to life the depravity and atrocity that was the holocaust. Adele, Barney, Eric, Ernie, Frank, Judy, Magda, Rodi, and Ruth may have survived, but some did not thrive, as you could imagine. Many did not tell their stories until they were much older for a variety of reasons: shame, fear, guilt.

My favorite story was that of Judy Strauss, who has spent her days encouraging others to fight for their rights with the ballot box. That’s something that really hits home today, and a lesson that even grown-ups could learn.

What an amazing tool to teach students about the experience of children during the Holocaust. This book does an amazing job using survivor testimony and also small inserts to clarify information for students. This book shows that not all survivors experiences are the same but it also allows for an expanded understanding of how different people went through the Holocaust. This is a critical tool for Holocaust education especially as more survivors pass away. I especially love the final thoughts in each section which allow practical steps for students to consider when trying to make connections to today's world.

Five stars. An important and timely contribution to the body of Holocaust testimonies, especially for children and young adults.

Growing up in this era, decades removed from the Holocaust, many children are unaware of the horrors of the Shoah. And with global antisemitism on the rise, including in countries where Jewish communities felt "safe" (a relative term) in recent years—these stories need to be told. Every survivor's story is unique and precious.

Other books for children and young adults containing survivor stories have been published over the decades. But there aren't enough of them. Especially helpful are the sidebars describing places cited in the book—internment and death camps, and political terms. The authors and editors were able to include enough details to highlight suffering and tragedy without being overly graphic.

Anyone with a heart will find it impossible to read these stories without doing some serious soul-searching. And so we say "never again." And to all readers of this review, we ask: "Would you do what some of the kind non-Jews did, ones who at their own great personal cost and peril, risked their lives to hide and help Jewish people during the Holocaust?" Would you—especially those who name the name of Jesus, the Jewish messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures?

These are powerful stories of children who survived the Holocaust, some by fleeing, some by hiding in plain sight, and some in concentration camps. Every entry shows a normal childhood followed by the heartbreak and terror of finding a way to live against terrible circumstances. The children in these true stories grew up and led lives around the world, mostly not talking about their experiences until they were older.
I cannot imagine being so young and separated from my home and family, and their hearts were so powerful. Each had a lesson from their hardship, such as always treating people with kindness.
The real photos make this even more powerful, as these were truly normal children. Their testimony of overcoming adversity is so powerful. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

This book was so real and raw. It was so sad to read about what these survivors had to go through. As a history lover I knew I had to pick this up. Even though their stories are sad to read about its also great to read that they were able to make something of their lives after they were liberated. I can understand why some didn't want to talk about their lives during this time because its a very depressing situation. However I am glad they came forward because we got to know that they survived and are able to show awareness to those who had to go through it. It shows what can happen if the wrong person gets in control and it shows us how to try to not let that type of thing happen again. Again this made my history loving heart happy to read and be able to learn more about the survivors but also sad because they life was ripped from them and made things difficult after they were freed.

Friedeman and Szany’s middle grade book, “Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust,” is a resource that is desperately needed by schools not just in the United States, but should be translated into numerous languages and distributed worldwide.

This book includes the stories of nine different people—five women and four men—who survived the Holocaust as children. The survivors hail from places throughout Europe, including France, Poland, Hungary, and the Netherlands, with five survivors originating in Germany.

Each story includes photographs of the survivors, along with biographical data, such as birthdates, death dates, immigration dates, along with a major lesson from each person. Of all the included stories, three in particular really touched my heart.

The first was the story of Adele Zaveduk who, along with her mother younger sister, lived in the home of a gentile in France. But, painfully, the woman who gave them shelter denounced Adele’s mother, resulting in her mother being sent to a concentration camp. After that, their caretaker then lied to Adele and her sister, calling their mother a bad person. It was heartbreaking.

The second story that touched me was that of Judy Straus from Montabaur, Germany whose major lesson was to encourage people to fight for their rights using the vote. Finally, the third story that really touched me was that of Ruth Stern from Berlin, Germany, whose lesson focused on adaptation to survive coupled with resilience.

My paternal grandmother was born in Austria. While still a young teenager, she was forced to work in an ammunitions factory. After this, she was sent to Berlin to work as a maid. I still know very little about what my paternal grandmother endured as she was extremely tight lipped about everything. But even so, I have always been hesitant to visit Berlin; I believe this is where she experienced the most trauma. And in my own personal life, I have also had to rely on adaptation for my own survival, relying upon my own resilience. It is for these reasons that Ruth Stern’s story resonated the most with me.

Children deserve to have childhoods and while many, if not most, of the people in this book were denied this right, I’m grateful that they at least lived through this tragedy. I cannot begin to even fathom the experiences that many children during this era experienced, and particularly the experiences of the children that were murdered.

This book is more than timely, given the current rush of antisemitism around the world. But through education, we can eliminate both hate and misunderstanding. I sincerely hope that this book will have a long print run and will appear on bookshelves around the world.

I received an ARC of “Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust” by Amanda Friedeman and Kelley Szany from NetGalley, Lerner Publishing Group, and Kar-Ben Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.