The Sound of Freedom

Kathy Kacer has found a gentle way for the YA reader to be introduced to the horrors of WWII as experienced by Polish Jews. Her YA novel, The Sound of Freedom, is set in Krakow, prior to the German invasion of Poland at a time when Hitler was rising in power and anti-Semitic feelings and actions were beginning to take hold among the general population.
Anna, the main character in this book, is a motherless Jewish schoolgirl who lives with her father (a professional musician) and her grandmother. Initially Anna is a happy child who pals around with her BFF and is unaware of the approaching life changing events. Gradually she starts to experience bullying and spitefulness because of her Jewishness. Kacer does an excellent job of making the child's horror real without making it overbearing for a young person to read about. Kacer uses news broadcasts, family conversations, discussions with friends, witnessing good people standing by and doing nothing, the isolation of Jews and decisions of other Jewish families to leave the country as ominous warnings of what the future holds for Anna and her family.
A central figure in this historical fiction is the real Bronislaw Huberman, who actually was a world famous Polish violinist. Huberman did indeed create the Palestinian Symphony Orchestra to which he recruited many European Jews, thereby saving the lives of them and their families. He provided travel documents to move them to Palestine at a time when Jews were unable to leave their countries.
In the novel Anna's father successfully auditions for Huberman's orchestra. There are many tense moments during the decision to audition, while waiting for the results of the auditions, trying to arrange travel documents for grandmother, travelling by train through Germany, etc. Again Kacer has inserted just enough drama into the plot line to keep the young reader interested but has bypassed the grotesqueness encountered by many Jews in that time and place.
As a former educator I have seen many youths overwhelmed when learning about the the Jewish experience during WWII. Many of today's youth are old enough to understand the descriptions but too young to process the reality. This novel, however, is an excellent teaching tool. Kacer allows her characters to ask, “But what about the ones left behind”, “What happened to the families that returned” but she does not answer these questions. This allows the reader to research these questions for themselves, when they are ready to learn the answers. I recommend this book be added to middle school curricula.

I'm going to use this book in our classroom as we study World War II. It provides a perspective that I've not seen before in children's books, including the immigration to Palestine, and also opens the door for a lesson on classical music and musical instruments. This is a nice book to add to any classroom collection!