This is one of the most beautiful stories I’ve ever read! This story is full of love, pain, and heartbreak. Amira and Fred’s love story is very unconventional, but it is a love that is true and never ending. Once again, the stories of the Holocaust in Germany are haunting and tragic. Soraya Lane has given a beautiful voice to these victims.

Soraya Lane explores how ordinary people stepped up to make a difference in the lives of others at the time it was needed most.

Three things that stood out to me most while reading:
1) The examination of how quickly one can go from friend to outcast; the instant hatred that emerges when classmates discover one of their own has a different heritage. How does this new discovery make the victim feel, especially when treated differently from one day to the next by people one considers a ‘friend’.
2) The knowledge that something beyond one’s control is the reason that friends are separated. Children shouldn’t have to worry if they’re ever going to see their best friend again or if playing with them is not allowed.
3) The irony of Amira’s dad’s new job in Berlin!

Lies and secrets play a big role in historical fiction set during the Holocaust. Lane brings something different to the table using the role that lies and secrets played at this devastating time in history.

As politics and ethnicity continue to divide us, books such as this one are precious. May we learn to value the ripple effect of extending a hand to help a fellow human being as we graciously offer a hand up.

I was gifted this copy by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.